In The Service of Liars and Killers
by brokegirl97
Summary: Valarie, one of the worlds greatest assassins, has been called by S.H.I.E.L.D to aid them in the war against the Chitauri. But what happens when a certain God of Mischief wins the war and becomes King of the World. And every King needs a Queen. [Rated M for later chapter, mild themes, swearing and violence. Read at your own risk. AU. Loki/OC]
1. WARNING!

**WARNING: IN THE SERVICE OF LIARS AND KILLERS**

**PLEASE READ THIS!**

**I BEG YOU!**

**I'm only going to say this once and once only. If you don't like don't read. **

**There are tons of fanfics out there that include warnings of smut that could make people uncomfortable and then they go ahead and review the chapter and tell them that the smut wasn't needed or that it wasn't good enough or that it made them feel awkward when reading. To be fair, it's downright disrespectful because, believe it or not, some people actually like to read this kind of stuff. Just look at 50 Shades of Gray; no one cares about Anna and her family, I just skip to the good stuff! Who's with me?!**

**And you do realise that you can filter the search, so when you switched the rating from K-T to M rated, you're reading at your own risk. You got yourself here; either love it or learn from it. **

**On that simple and loving note, I do love you guys and it's your reviews that make me love you and want to keep writing. I don't hate anyone, and please don't think that I was attacking you with the first paragraph, but I have seen some nasty reviews and nobody wants that; this is a site where people can express their deepest thoughts and explore their imagination. Even if the imagination could be kinky as fuck. **

**WARNING: This story includes mild and strong themes, language and violence. Luckily there is no incest, because this isn't a LOKI/THOR Fanfic, its LOKI/OC.**

**So yeah. Thank you for reading the WARNING even though people don't normally read that kind of stuff because it's not the story, but for those who have read it, I want to personally thank you for using 3 minutes of your time. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Marvel, the Avengers and some of the quotes and phrases that I use in this aren't mine. I will either mention the author of them within the story from one character to another, but if not I will do my best to disclaim them at the end of the story in the Author's Note. The only thing I own is my character, Valarie along with some other names like Elsa, Andrew and Chelsea Healy, Tabitha (although she's only mentioned once) and any other characters that I will probably mention later in the story but haven't gotten to yet, I'll let you know. **

**Other than that, this is my first Avengers Fanfic, I have done others of Fallen by Lauren Kate and The Mortal Instruments/The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. This is my first fanfic that is based on Comic books/movies, but I will mostly be going by the movie, my own imagination and from what I've learnt from other fanfics. If you're curious about my other stories, feel free to check out my page. **

**Please enjoy. **


	2. Prologue Part 1

**Hello. I hope you read the warning in the chapter before. Thank you if you did, if you didn't read at your own risk. It includes the disclaimer as well if anyone's interested. **

**Enjoy the first part of the prologue. **

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**Prologue – Part One**

**Her Back Story**

Valarie is one of many girls, with a dark history and a disturbing back story. If you saw her walking down the street, you would think she was an ordinary 19 year old girl. Yeah, she was pretty with her long, wavy brown hair and hazel eyes; men would give her a second glance. But that's as far as Valarie would give them. If any man decided to pursue her in any sexual way, she would avert them in a different direction. No friends. No relationships. But there's a reason for such isolation.

That's right; isolation. Shit does things to you. It shapes you into a totally different person. Especially when you were only a little girl. Like some girls, Valarie didn't have the best of lives. She has no idea what her last name is; who her parents are; where she came from; or why she was left on the door step of the orphanage all those years ago.

She was only a babe, wrapped up in a blanket and sitting in a small cardboard box. Her cries could be heard from down the street; but when you live in the dark places of California no one really cares. As she flailed her arms around, hitting the box with all her strength, her cries were finally answered. The door opened and a tall tanned, dark haired woman with a gentle, surprised face lifted her from the box and nurtured her.

As a young child, Valarie never felt like she belonged there in the orphanage just for girls. Her bunkmate, Tabitha, tried to be her friend, but Valarie was too shy and afraid. She didn't know what she was afraid of. Maybe being left alone again, maybe being disappointed or lost. Valarie hardly spoke, but the only person she would speak to was Elsa, the middle-aged woman who owned the orphanage. She wasn't like your typical _Miss Hannigan _from _Annie_, no she was gentle. She was the mother to everyone in the orphanage and was always a wreck when a girl was adopted. She was the only mother Valarie ever thought she had; the only mother who ever loved her.

At the age of 6, Valarie was finally adopted by a young couple who seemed to be in love. On the forms, their names were Andrew and Chelsea Healy. They seemed lovable; a couple Valarie could cope with. They took her to their small townhouse with a large basement. But, during the first 3 years of living there, they kept Valarie in the dark. She had no idea what they were really doing down in their 'secret' basement, but it smelled of something burning. Whenever Valarie breathed through her nose or her mouth, it was like shoving hot iron down her throat.

So she liked to escape out into the garden which consisted of one lone tree. She liked to climb it during the summer and stare up at the bright sun, thinking if there was anybody out there. Still, she felt alone, much like the tree. She missed Elsa, the woman who took care of her.

Valarie soon realised that her adoptive parents were going through some trouble financially. They couldn't afford to keep buying food and sending Valarie to school. When she was 10 she became home schooled, but she didn't learn anything from Chelsea or Andrew. They were busy cooking their own stash of meth downstairs in the basement. It all turned downhill from there. They were losing their 'customers' to cheaper suppliers. Valarie stayed away from them as best she could, but they would always find her. They would be either drunk or high and they would take their anger and desperation out on her. To this day, she still bears the scars from the horrors of her childhood.

When Valarie was 12 she found out that her parents weren't who they said they were. They had never worked a day in their lives and they had several names on several credit cards. They were stealing from other people's bank accounts, taking the money for themselves. And, because they were addicted to meth, they would use the money to either buy it, or for supplies to cook it.

3 years later, at the age of 15, Valarie couldn't take it anymore. She was overwhelmed with the lies and all the hatred and anger got to her. Like I said, shit does things to you. The brutality of her younger years reflected her later actions; she killed both of her parents, making it look like they overdosed on their own product. Then, she left for Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a long journey for Valerie, but she needed to settle somewhere. She died her hair raven black and kept to the shadows, isolated from the rest of the world. Books were her only friends. They were the only things keeping her feet on the ground.

At the age of 19, Valarie had come to be known as New Mexico's greatest assassin. She promised herself she would rid the world of liars, cheaters and abusers; of anyone who thought they were superior. She told herself she would do good; but there was so much blood on her hands. Her skill set increased and more people were demanding her to kill as long as they gave her money. She needed the money to live. They were notorious people and eventually, Valarie got red in her ledger. To herself she was known as plain Valarie. To others, she was known as The Hunter.

**Now**

It was a night like any other night; Valarie had a target. He was a successful business owner with a dark secret. She had been tailing her target for a couple of days now and she felt sick. He was cheating on his wife and stealing from his partners. A saner person would try and find the money and ruin him financially. But what's to stop him from doing it again? The best way to end someone's deception is to kill them. Valarie had to learn that the hard way.

She lived in a small house with only one floor for living space and a large basement underneath. She kept the basement filled with weapons that she either stole from the bad guys, or her contacts let her keep. When she had enough money for them, she bought her own. They were mostly guns but there were some knives; they were good for interrogations. Everywhere she went, Valarie carried her large black duffel bag. Inside, she packed her sniper rifle which she would have to assemble herself and a stand to hold; again she would have to assemble. Her contact had asked for something clean; a clear shot to the head with her sniper wouldn't be too messy. Valarie preferred it that way; therefore she wouldn't have to look them in the eye as they died.

She packed some small hand guns into the strap around her thigh, a dagger in her black boot and some ammo in the pouches along her waist. She shoved on her black hoodie and lifted the hood up, shielding her pale face from the world. Valarie zipped up the black duffel bag and walked up the stairs from the basement. Locking the basement door behind her, Valarie moved down the hall, stopping in front of the door to put on her long black coat. She kept her hood up; didn't want people looking at her. You never know who could be watching. She put on her shades that were like mirrors on the other side. You couldn't see her hazel eyes, which to her was a good thing. She didn't want anyone seeing the damage.

Valarie put the duffel bag in the trunk of her 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo that she kept in her garage. She lived in a normal neighbourhood with people who could afford frivolous things so a Lambo in the garage wasn't really a thing. The fact that she had a small house was, but people realised that it's only small because she lives alone; big enough for one person.

Sliding into the black leather seats, the Lambo burst with life and Valarie screeched down the streets of Albuquerque, not caring of the stares she got out from the windows of her neighbours. She had a job to do and _someone _had to pay the bills...with their life.

After driving to Denver, Colorado it had reached mid afternoon. Valarie's contact said that her target would be attending a conference in a building on Delaware Street. There seemed to be a parking lot opposite the building. Valarie decided to make her shot there. Her contact informed her of the exact room he would be in and she found a perfect spot with a lovely view of the window.

Valarie drove all the way up to the fourth floor of the parking lot. It was eerie at this time of day, but because it was at the end of Autumn and close to winter, there weren't many people around to witness the assassination. Behind her car, Valarie took the duffel bag out of the trunk and took out the stand. She positioned it just so that it went over the half wall and then, assembled her sniper rifle.

There was movement up ahead. Valarie's head snapped up and she saw her target. He was young, about 33-36 with dark golden hair. He was wearing a grey suit and he was scarily attractive. Valarie hated it when her targets were attractive, but dammit, it needed to be done. He was shaking hands with other business men in the room as they sat down to begin their conference. Valarie positioned the rifle on top of the stand. She aimed for her target. The bullet would go straight through the window with a small crack and through his brain.

But Valarie never got the chance to pull the trigger. Oh, no. A sharp pain from the side of her head caused to tumble backwards onto the hard solid ground. The bullet never left the rifle. And all Valarie saw was a flash of fiery red.

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**Let me know what you think. Read & Review please. **

**-Caz :D **


	3. Prologue Part 2

**So this is the next part, I hope you enjoy it. **

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**Prologue – Part Two**

Pain erupted throughout Valarie's skull, causing her head to nearly explode. Thin but firm hands circled around both of her upper arms, twisting her around so that she was on her stomach. Valarie grunted when her chest hit the ground and she knocked her chin on the gravel. Blood ran down her chin and onto the ground as Valarie tried to pull herself up.

The sound of a soft click alerted Valarie. Someone was pulling a gun out on her and pressing it against the back of her head. She hadn't seen her attacker but she wasn't going to let her get away with it. Valarie whipped her arm around to the back of her, hitting her attacker in the face and moving the gun out of the way. It fired and Valarie heard the clatter of the bullet ricochet throughout the parking lot.

She pulled herself up and that was when she got a good look at her attacker. It was a woman with fiery, wavy red hair down to her shoulders. She was wearing a dark navy blue and black suit with guns strapped to her thighs. On both sides of her suit, on her arms and just under her shoulders, was an insignia of what looked like an eagle. She wore a black belt around her waist along with black boots that covered her calves. She was strikingly beautiful, but Valarie could sense that she was the type that uses her beauty as a weapon.

The woman stood up and glared at her. Valarie ripped open her jacket and produced both of her knives from the belt around her waist. She readied herself for the next attack. The woman smirked and bent down slowly to retrieve something from her boot. She pulled out a knife and at the same time lunged forward.

Valarie moved sideways, dodging the tip of the knife. She ducked as the woman swung outwards, attempting to cut her. She was moving fast, but Valarie was faster. The woman went to swing inwards but Valarie blocked her with both of her knives. As time flew, the other woman began to grow very impatient and angry at Valarie. Sweat was dripping from her face as was on Valarie's.

As Valarie spun to dodge another blow, the other woman grabbed her coat and pulling it towards her, but as she did so, Valarie untangled herself from the coat and was released from it. The other woman's eyes grew large at all the weapons Valarie was carrying on her person. The red head dashed forward with her knife raised above her head. Valarie blocked her by raising her knife with a grunt. With her left forearm, she pushed against the woman's stomach, lifting her off the ground and over her shoulder in a matter of seconds.

With a thud the woman landed on her back, her knife skidding along the floor out of reach. Valarie crawled on top of the woman, her knees pinning her arms to the floor. The woman cried out as pain shot into her muscles. Valarie held a knife over the woman's throat, blood dripping from her forehead from earlier. She glared at her.

"Who are you?" she growled, pressing the knife against her throat, but not hard enough to burst the skin. She wanted answers and she was going to get them.

All of a sudden, she didn't get her answers. She felt legs wrap around her head from behind, pushing her backwards onto the ground. Next thing she knew, the woman was now sitting on top of her, pointing one of her guns in between Valarie's eyes.

"If you're going to kill me just do it," Valarie sneered, "I won't be missed."

Something twitched in the other woman's wide eyes; how Valarie was so willing to accept death. Her skill set was almost equal to that of hers.

"No," the woman replied, her voice like nails but with a hint of natural seduction, "I've got a better idea." Valarie saw the woman raise her gun and hit her on the side of the head. It faded to black before Valarie could even cry out.

Valarie woke up to the sounds of voices. She recognised one of them as the woman who attacked her in the parking lot. The other was definitely a black male. Her eyes opened slightly to slits and she couldn't see them. She was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling where a light was dangling right above her.

She mumbled something and the talking stopped. The red headed woman from earlier leaned over her and, with her fingers, opened Valarie's eyes a little more.

"She's stable," she said to the other man in the room. Then she turned back to Valarie, "Well at least we know you're not dead. I hit you really hard." Valarie didn't respond, but this woman had tried to kill her, she couldn't be trusted. She tried to move her arms but she couldn't. Quickly, she looked down at herself and found that she was strapped to a bed. The woman saw what she was doing. "Just relax," she said, attempting a soothing voice, "we needed to take precautions."

The lighting in the room adjusted and Valarie could now see all occupants in the room. In the corner was a tall, black male wearing a long black leather coat with a hood. He had no hair but a black beard and moustache. He wore a black suit underneath his coat that zipped up along with guns at his hips. Valarie stopped at his face. It was normal, save for the part where he only had one eye. His left eye was covered by a black patch, but it didn't cover all of the scars coming from his eye. They were like lightning strikes coming from the patch.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Valarie mumbled, still slightly disoriented. The woman backed off slightly, giving Valarie some room to pull herself up with the restraint she had. The black man stepped forward.

"My name is Director Nick Fury and I'm head of S.H.I.E.L.D. You're in our Head Quarters, 'S.H.I.E.L.D Central', in New York City," he said. The man, Fury, spoke with a voice that could only be described as someone who wants to get to the point of things. He seemed wise and intelligent. But most importantly, he seemed like a man you didn't want to fuck with. He gestured to the woman, "This is Agent Natasha Romanoff-"

"Did you send her to kill me?" Valarie cut in, her voice filled with slight annoyance.

Fury looked down to the ground and then back up. "Valarie, you have been on our radar for too long. I send my agents out there to stop people like you. Consider yourself lucky that you're actually still breathing," he snapped.

"Why _am_ I still breathing?" Valarie spat back. She wasn't going to let this guy make her feel small. She turned to Natasha, "Why didn't you just kill me?!"

Fury, with his hands clasped behind his back in a manner of authority, circled around her bed as he spoke, "Because, believe it or not, you could be useful to us." He stopped at the foot of her bed so Valarie was looking directly at the man. "I'm giving you an offer I don't think you can refuse."

"And what is it you're offering?" Valarie asked.

Fury eyes softened a bit and it seemed as though he was sympathising with her. But the next words that came out of his mouth stunned Valarie. She had never been offered something like this. "I'm offering you," he began, "A second chance at life."

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**Ooh a second chance at life. Isn't Fury feeling generous. **

**Please read and review.**

**-Caz :D **


	4. Prologue Part 3

**So this is the last part of the prologue and then the story begins. Please enjoy. **

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**Prologue – Part 3**

_A second chance at life._ The words ringing in Valarie's head. She didn't feel worthy of a second chance, after everything she's ever done in her life. She didn't deserve it. All her efforts to isolate herself and put herself in harm's way have failed. Why didn't Agent Romanoff kill her? What had she seen in her that made her change her mind? Even she came off as a cold hearted bitch, a killer. This chance isn't for redemption. There is no way Valarie can redeem herself. She had already tried that when she decided to kill the evil people in this world...but then she became one herself.

Director Fury and Agent Romanoff had left her on her own, still strapped to the bed. He said Agent Romanoff was going to come back and debrief her and give her the S.H.I.E.L.D uniform if they could find one in her size. She looked about the same size as Agent Romanoff, but with a slightly smaller waist.

Valarie had a chance to take in the room around her. It was plain white and not very big. There was a tall, sliding door off to the side with a dark haired man standing in front of it, holding a gun at the ready. He wore a similar S.H.I.E.L.D uniform like Agent Romanoff, but his was fit for a man. There was a small window just next to it and Valarie could see several people walk by, but they didn't look into the room. She wondered if they could from that side. The only piece of furniture in the room was the plain white bed. It didn't even have a pillow.

Valarie struggled against the straps that were pinning her to the bed. She could hardly move her limbs let alone bend her legs. She strained against the straps, draining herself of her energy and in the end she let out a loud _huff_. She shouldn't be wasting her energy on this when she needed to get out.

She caught the Agent Romanoff walking down the hall through the window and stopping in front of the guard. She said something to him and he nodded his head at her and moved aside. She pressed something into what Valarie could assume was a keypad and the door slid open. She came in and locked eyes with Valarie.

Agent Romanoff didn't say anything; she just threw the new S.H.I.E.L.D uniform on the bed and stood by Valarie. She folded her arms and stared down at her, almost cautiously before she spoke, "Listen well and listen good; we're not going to put up with any shit. Not everyone gets a second chance." She picked up the uniform and held it, showing Valarie the contents of the uniform. "This isn't just a uniform. It's a suit. It's made of the strongest material and it's very comfortable. Wear this suit with honour and maybe, one day, you can live up to becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent." She put the uniform – suit – back on the bed and went to untie Valarie's limbs, but hesitated. She looked up into Valarie's hazel eyes, before moving back. She untied all of them and watched Valarie cautiously as she went to stand up. She had been lying down for so long, she felt slightly shaky. Agent Romanoff gestured for her to take the suit and pointed to a small door off to the side that Valarie hadn't noticed was there; maybe because she couldn't turn her head around all the way. "That's a small bathroom. Go in there and get changed. I'll be right here."

Valarie gave her a curt nod, taking the suit off the bed and walking towards the bathroom. When she finally shut the door, she sighed. When did her life become so difficult? It was easy; people would come to her, tell her they wanted her to kill someone, she go and do it and then she'd get paid. What was so difficult about that?

There was a small mirror in the bathroom and Valarie finally saw the small cut on her lip that had dried up and the dark bruise on her forehead that stood out in her pale skin. Her raven hair was slightly dull and lifeless and it was sticking out in all kinds of places. Valarie smoothed down her hair and looked down at her body. Her arms were bruised and battered but that wasn't what bothered her. It was the fact that the pouches she had around her body were empty. They had taken her weapons. Of course they would. Valarie wasn't surprised. She almost ripped off her shirt and unfastened her weapons belt. She untied the weapon straps around her thighs and placed them on the side of the sink. She pulled her boots off with her toes and removed her jeans. She saw the bruises on her knees from fighting Agent Romanoff earlier. She made a _tut_ sound and looked at her naked self in the mirror. Bruised and battered. She even saw the scars on her body from her so called _parents_. Valarie sighed and gently touched the bruise on her forehead and winced at the pain. She abandoned the idea of tending to her wounds.

Valarie picked up the suit and stared at it for a while. Putting on the suit would mean that she's a part of something. That she's not alone. Valarie was never used to something like that; the idea of knowing people and fighting for the same cause, actually having a boss; Director Fury. She shook her head at the idea that this could change her.

She roughly shoved her limbs inside the suit and zipped it up. She wrapped her belt around her waist, currently holding no weapons, and secured it at the front. She then went to wrap the weapons straps around her thighs that also had no weapons in them. She pulled on her boots and stared at herself in the mirror.

Valarie looked like a completely different person. She wished that she could wear her own clothes, but there was a dress code to go by. Valarie promised herself that she wasn't going to stay long; that she was going to find her weapons and get out of here. She couldn't go home either, they'd find her there. She would have to move, maybe even countries.

A sharp knock at the door snapped Valarie out of her thoughts. "You alright in there?" It was Agent Romanoff. "C'mon, Fury wants to see you in his office."

The walk over to Director Fury's office was somewhat awkward and nerve wracking. There were men walking up and down the halls carrying heavy guns Valarie wished she had and eyeing her up and down. Some gave her nasty glares and other gave her winks; some men were just plain filthy. Agent Romanoff was leading the way, not saying a word. She would occasionally look behind her to make sure that Valarie was following her, but Valarie knew better than to run. She had no idea about the landscape of this place. She needed to understand the layout if she was to escape.

Agent Romanoff stopped in front of a set of double doors before motioning for her to wait with two fingers. She knocked on the door four times and waited for a response. "Come in."

Agent Romanoff opened the door and Director Fury was standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back. He seemed to do that a lot, but no one was going to question him. He was Nick Fury. Valarie followed Agent Romanoff and stood awkwardly until Director Fury acknowledged her. He didn't, but his head turned slightly as he sensed their presence.

"Director Fury, I've brought Valarie to see you," she said, folding her arms.

A couple of seconds went by before Fury turned around and locked eyes with Valarie. He nodded his head at Agent Romanoff, "Thank you, Agent. You may go now."

Valarie managed to catch Agent Romanoff's eyes before she left, basically telling her to watch it. Valarie stood off to the side for a moment before Fury offered her the seat in front of his desk. His office matched the interior of the entire place. He had a large black desk with a chair to match. White floors and white walls with the eagle insignia on the wall behind Valarie. Large windows were behind the desk and Valarie could finally see the New York skyline out in front of her. She had a feeling she was a few floors above ground. On Fury's desk, there was a light brown folder with the word CLASSIFIED stamped on it in red. And her name.

"We don't seem to know much about your personal life," said Fury, still standing at the window, looking out into the city, "Not even your real last name."

"That makes two of us," replied Valarie. Her voice sounded croaky and slightly drained. She hadn't spoken in a while.

Fury turned around and met her eyes, looking curiously at her. "And why is that?" he asked. "Surely you would have gone by the name of 'Healy' from your adopted parents."

Valarie narrowed her eyes at him, "How did you know that?"

Fury turned away from the window and sat down at his desk. He gently placed his hand on the file and stared down at it for a few seconds. "S.H.I.E.L.D is an Agency authorised by the government to protect our world from any threat. Accessing a few data files from an orphanage isn't really groundbreaking achievements for us."

"So you're saying you can access every single data report in the country?" she asked, gulping down the bile in her throat as she thought of the one piece of information she so desperately wanted to know.

"In the _world_," Fury corrected.

A moment passed and Valarie's eyes began to water, "Can you access hospital records?" she asked. It was barely a whisper but Fury heard it, and a flash of sympathy crossed his face.

"If you're wondering about your birth record, Miss. Valarie, we found no trace of it. We took the liberty of taking some fingerprints while you were out cold and cross referenced it with all DNA scans and found no trace. According to the system, you don't exist."

Valarie looked down at her hands that were laid gently on her lap. She couldn't help the tear that fell from her eye and she felt ashamed that it fell. She quickly rubbed her face and stared at anywhere but Fury. She wondered what her mother would look like if she found her, or maybe even her father.

It was Fury that snapped her attention to the subject at hand, "Don't worry, Miss. Valarie. Most people here at S.H.I.E.L.D. _technically_ don't exist."

"What is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" she asked, "And why have I never heard of it?"

A smirk crossed over Fury's face, finally satisfied that she's asked a decent question. "S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We are a secret law enforcement agency who deals with paranormal and superhuman threats."

Valarie scoffed, "I'm not a paranormal or a superhuman threat," she snapped.

Fury took a moment and looked at her smugly, "No, but you are a threat nonetheless."

Valarie ran her hand through her hair, "Just get to the point, Director. Why are you giving me this second chance at life?"

Fury watched her as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms. His eyes motioned to the folder on his desk, offering her to take it. Valarie opened the folder and then first thing that she saw was a picture of her that was taken a few years ago in Albuquerque. She was wearing her usual black coat with the hood up with a pair of shades on. She pushed the picture up and saw the information underneath.

It was information about her adoption papers and that her family history remained a mystery. It mentioned Elsa, the woman who took care of her for the first 6 years of her life at the orphanage. As she read the information about Elsa, her eyes skimmed across a date. It was the year of her death. 9th January 2005; she had been dead for two years.

"Elsa," she whispered, her eyes stinging and threatening to shed tears. Elsa was the only person who ever seemed like a mother to her. The way she took care of her; making sure she got to school on time with the other kids, always making sure she brushed her teeth, giving her warm milk at night when she couldn't sleep, making the most delicious breakfast in the morning, actually just being there for all the kids at the orphanage. Valarie read more of the information. The cause of her death was cancer.

"I didn't know she had cancer," Valarie muttered, a tear spilling down her face. She said it to no one in particular, more for self closure, but Fury responded.

"She had been fighting it for many years. It was said by the hospital that she died peacefully surrounded by her loved ones," he said. He studied her with his one good eye. Valarie hadn't noticed how dark they were.

She pushed the folder back onto the desk and wiped her eyes clean from any tears. She hated the fact that she was acting this way in front of Fury. He was a stranger and frankly, Valarie didn't trust him.

"Miss. Valarie, it has come to my attention that you're somewhat of an Assassin. We have many of them here, Agent Romanoff being one of them," he said, leaning forward and clasping his hands on the desk.

Valarie had seemed to compose herself now, "Is that why you sent her to kill me?" she asked. Fury looked down at his hands on the desk. He could sense this girl had gone through a lot of pain in her life and the brutality changed her to be a killer to survive. _Survival._ The word ringed in his head. Every day is a fight for survival. He was about to speak when Valarie continued, "Look, I'm not going to be a part of your boy band, I don't want any part of it, so please stop looking at me like I'm broken!" she cried.

Fury shook his head, "You're not broken Valarie. I'm not suggesting you join S.H.I.E.L.D because you're good at killing or that you've got so much anger within you that you can unleash it on your enemies. No. Who you were, who you are and who you will be are three different people. I'm giving you an opportunity to find out who that third person is."

Valarie put her head in her hands and shook them. "Out of all the people in the world who have done horrible things, why did you choose me?" she whined.

What happened next surprised her; Fury actually chuckled. Valarie lifted her head and was shocked to find the man smiling at her, "Oh, Valarie. I wasn't the one who chose you."

It took her moment to figure it out. The only people she's had contact with in S.H.I.E.L.D were Director Fury and Agent Romanoff. _Agent Romanoff_. The way she looked at her before she knocked her out in the parking lot; it was like she was looking into a mirror in some way. Like she could see a reflection of herself and wondered.

"Agent Romanoff?" asked Valarie, and Fury nodded his head. "Why did she show me mercy?" she asked.

"Because nothing in your life is beyond redemption. Just ask Natasha."

Director Fury had one of his men escort Valarie around the Head Quarters to find Agent Romanoff. He didn't speak at all, only that he escorted her around the premises; through some sliding doors, past more men with guns, and then directly in front of another door. According to Fury, there were apartments for permanent residents at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. The guard knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened. Valarie stood there with her hands clasped in front of her when Agent Romanoff opened the door. Her eyes looked between the guard and Valarie.

"Your turn to babysit," said the guard and almost shoved Valarie toward the door before turning away.

"Hey! Asshole!" yelled Valarie. She was about to storm after the guard when she was pulled inside the room, stealing her breath.

Agent Romanoff slammed the door behind her and glared at Valarie, "You can't go around calling people an asshole; they will cut you. Without hesitation."

Valarie huffed and folder her arms. She finally looked around the room. It looked like an ordinary living room save for the fact that she had a wall decorated with weapons. There was a black leather couch in the middle facing another wall that held a large flat screen TV. There was a white fury rug on the floor with a black shiny coffee table on top. There was a kitchen off to the side with white cabinets and countertops and a black glistening oven right in the middle. She had an island as well that held a fruit bowl, some wine glasses and the sink. Black bar stools were tucked underneath the island.

Off to the other side there was a white door that was open and Valarie could see bed with black silk sheets. Valarie envied all of her luxury, even though she had a Lamborghini at her old house, right now she felt like she had nothing.

"Sit, I'm guessing you have some questions," Agent Romanoff began, gesturing to the black couch in the middle. "Although, I don't understand why Fury couldn't answer them," she added. It was a mutter and Agent Romanoff didn't think Valarie heard her but she did. It only added to her already bad mood.

Valarie took a seat on the couch and waited for Agent Romanoff to join her. She had gone to the kitchen and was bending down to get something from the fridge. She returned with a beer for herself and a can of Coca Cola for Valarie.

"Why do you get a beer and I don't?" she asked, slightly annoyed and feeling undermined.

Agent Romanoff took a swig of her beer and set it down on the coffee table, "Because you're only 19."

Valarie wanted to punch her in the face, "I've killed people for a living and yet you won't let me have a beer."

Agent Romanoff raised her hands in defence, "Doesn't mean I can let you off."

Valarie huffed and put her head in her hands. Only yesterday she was driving 90MPH down the free way in Albuquerque, enjoying the sun on her skin and now she's sat in a prison that won't let her be herself. She lifted her head and stared at the wall to her left. She was surprised to find a quote on the wall, sitting in a black frame. _The greatest goal one can attain in a lifetime is salvation before death._

"What does that mean?" Valarie asked abruptly, pointing at the frame on the wall.

Agent Romanoff followed her gaze and the tension grew. "It's about redemption. After you die, no one should remember you for all the bad things you've done in your life. It's what I work for."

Valarie studied Agent Romanoff for a second, "What bad things have you done in your life?" she asked. It was a risky question, but if she was going to get some answers, every question counted.

Agent Romanoff took another swig of her beer before speaking, "I got red in my ledger." It was all she said, but it was all Valarie needed. She understood why Fury was pushing her towards redemption; it's because Agent Romanoff saw that she was capable of such things. "Like you, I too have killed people to survive. Fury sent one of his best Agents to kill me and yet he made a different call."

Valarie looked down at her hands and twiddled her thumbs together, "Is that why you showed me mercy?" she asked, "Because you were shown it too."

Agent Romanoff stared down at her beer bottle for a moment before nodding her head. Valarie didn't take her for the sentimental type. At first she came off as a cold hearted bitch but now, there was something underneath her tough exterior. "We've all done things we're not proud of. It's time to wipe the slate clean."

"Is that why Fury's offering me a second chance?" Valarie asked, "So that I can wipe my slate clean? Wipe out the red in my ledger?" She opened her Coke can and took a sip, thankful for the cold fluid running down her throat.

Agent Romanoff took another swig of her beer and stared at the quote in the frame, "Not everyone gets a second chance, especially from Fury. If he's giving you a second chance then he's going to want something in return." She saw the horror on Valarie's face and immediately consoled her, "Oh no. It's nothing bad. The only thing Fury would want from any of us is to aid him when the world needs it."

Valarie took another sip of her Coke, "I see where you're coming from. But I don't know if I'm cut out for this. I just want to go back to my old life. I don't want any of this!" she cried. She slammed her can on the coffee table and got to her feet. She tried to make her way to the door but Agent Romanoff blocked her.

"Even if Fury lets you go now, there's only a matter of time until someone comes along and puts a bullet through your brain. Now be thankful for the opportunity that you have in front of you and don't walk away!" she yelled.

Valarie took a stand, "Or what?" she growled.

Agent Romanoff crossed her arms and took an even bigger stand, "Or it'll be me who points that gun at your face and, believe me, I don't make the same mistake twice."

Agent Romanoff soon grew on Valarie. There was only three years between the two girls and eventually they found that they had quite a lot in common; their skill set, their past and their future goal; to remove the red in their ledgers. Agent Romanoff didn't talk much about her past because she wasn't very proud of it. All she kept saying was that she did horrible things that she hopes she can make up for.

Agent Romanoff introduced Valarie to Clint Barton, also known as Hawk Eye. Apparently he was really good with a bow and arrow and can see things better from a distance. He's one of Fury's best assassins other than Agent Romanoff. Valarie later understood that Agent Barton was the guy who was sent to kill Agent Romanoff but instead showed her mercy. Guess Valarie should be thanking Agent Barton for saving her life.

After months of just being at S.H.I.E.L.D. Valarie understood that she could never go back to her ordinary life and that her dreams of getting out were just dreams. If anything, she enjoyed the company of others; training with Barton and Romanoff and going on different assignments with them. But she always felt like she couldn't be trusted on her own. Yeah, she had her own apartment but she didn't have access to any weapons of the sort. She needed to have a key card to get into the weapons room and she needed to be companied by Agent Romanoff or Agent Barton.

It sucked at first, but Fury realised that he could trust her. He made a risky decision letting her go off on her own on an assignment. It was regarding a group of men who were like the mafia illegally making money in an abandoned warehouse. They were heavily armed and heavy in muscles. When Valarie first saw her target she thought Fury had sent her on a suicide mission. But never the less, she was given a sniper rifle, seven throwing knives and two small hand guns. She had assembled her rifle at one of the windows and had shot three of the bad guys until they realised where the shots were coming from. And after ducking behind boxes and machines, throwing knives at four more bad guys, she was finally left with the one soul man in charge of the scam. He was Asian and didn't speak a lick of English. It wasn't helping Valarie and she couldn't get a word out of him. So she tied him up, gagged him and waited for the FBI to show up.

When she got back to HQ, Fury was impressed by her work and stopped any more acts of fraud. She was rewarded with only one thing she could ask for. Valarie could have asked for her own weapons, some more privileges. What she asked for was something beyond having more privileges. It was something Fury took two weeks to decide on. It was having her own place in the City. She was devoted to a life with S.H.I.E.L.D. and she proved that when she went out on her assignments. She just wanted a small piece of her life back; to be able to live independently.

When Fury agreed on her proposal he had three terms; always keep in touch and discuss about any personal assignments with him; someone would come check on her monthly regarding whether she was alright; and that she always comes when she is needed. He told her that they would support her financially if she agreed to those terms. Fury also mentioned that if she breaks those terms then he would haul her ass by to HQ and straight to the containment facility.

Valarie couldn't help but feel different when she's around Fury. As the years went by, he felt more like a father figure to her. She'd never really known what that was like when she was younger. She couldn't help but giggle at how over protective he was over her. But then again, she was thankful for Fury for taking her in when she secretly needed it. She had needs she didn't even know she had; like someone to watch her back, a cause to fight for, and to know that she was loved.

**6 Years Later**

Waking up in her small apartment in New York she switched on her lamp and looked down at the clock. She liked to sleep in, but she somewhat felt anxious. She hadn't received a call or a text from Fury in a long time. And around about this time of the month, someone usually comes by to check on her. She shouldn't worry though; it's happened before when Fury was up his ass with what was happening in New Mexico the year before. What worried her most were Clint and Natasha. Normally they would text her and ask her how she's doing or if they'd like to hang out but they haven't spoken to her for days.

Valarie decided to ignore it and come to a decision that Clint and Natasha were on a case somewhere. She had heard Clint was at the P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility in New Mexico working on a project which Fury was overseeing occasionally, and Natasha was back in Russia on one of her assignments. She stood up from her bed, dressed in just a large white shirt that went down to her mid thigh, and padded her way over to the kitchen in the other room. She switched on the small TV on the counter. It emitted noise throughout the kitchen with the morning news.

Valarie made herself her morning coffee and placed two slices of bread into the toaster and waited for it to make that ping sound while she poured her coffee. The warmth radiated through her hands. You 'd think at the age of 25 and had been living alone her entire life that she would be so used to being cold and not wanting to feel any warmth. And yet, she didn't feel so isolated like she did in Albuquerque. She finally thought she could live for something, but she couldn't sit around waiting for a stupid phone call.

_PING! _Her toast popped out of the toaster, snapping her out of her thoughts. She buttered them and sat down at the counter in front of the TV and quietly watched the news, all the while her hand was itching to her phone on the counter. Every now and then she would glare over at it and check it, hoping she hadn't missed a text or a call or something. She sighed, finished her toast and went for a shower. The hot steaming water washed away all of her worries. She began to sing...badly, like most people do in the shower. It was kind of the sanest thing she could do at that moment; don't all normal people sing in the shower?

Valarie finished her shower, dried her hair, and just when she was about to slip into some pants...her phone vibrated on her desk. She rushed over to it, her pants halfway down her legs. She was excited to even receive a phone call; it was like the time Natasha and Clint had bought her a new phone to stay in touch with because emails were so last year. Valarie looked down and narrowed her eyes.

_Phil Coulson_. Valarie looked down and realised that she only ever got calls from Director Fury himself about an assignment. Coulson only called her once and that was when they found Captain Rogers frozen in the ice and she was to make sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid. Why would he be calling now? Did Rogers do something stupid?

Valarie picked up her phone and hit ANSWER. "Agent Phil Coulson, this _is _a surprise," she cooed, "How's New Mexico? I hear it's lovely this time of year."

Coulson sighed, "We need you to come in?" he said abruptly. Valarie was never close to Agent Coulson but she knew that he was close to Fury and that she could trust him.

At his hard tone, Valarie suddenly turned serious, "What's going on, Agent?" she asked in her formal employee voice.

"We've got a hostile situation right now and I need you to come in. I'll brief you in later with Agent Romanoff. A chopper is 8 minutes away from you right now. Meet him at the top of your building," he replied, all in one breathe.

Valarie rushed to her closet and pulled out a bag, already packing her suit and some weapons along with it whilst pulling up her pants. "Phil, what is it? What's happening?" She had never heard Agent Coulson talk like that before. Like he was desperate.

"Valarie," he replied, "It's a Level Seven."

* * *

**Little longer than the last two but I hoped you enjoy it. Loki will be coming very shortly :) **

**-Caz :D **


	5. Chapter 1: The Level Seven

**Hello, ready for another chapter. **

**Disclaimer: there are lines in here that are from the Avengers Movie that I do not own. Marvel does and I think Joss Whedon wrote the script, so I guess their his words. I added a few things in their though. **

**Enjoy. **

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**The Level Seven**

Agent Coulson didn't fill her on a Level Seven when they were on the phone. He figured it would be better if they spoke in person, but the way his voice was...it was shaking, and Valarie knew something went horribly down. They wouldn't be sending a chopper to pick her up at the top of her building if it was anything else. Valarie packed essential clothing in a bag along with toiletries – she had no idea where she was going – and dressed in her suit. She grabbed the remote off the side of her bed and clicked the only button on it, pointing it towards the TV in her bedroom.

It wasn't a remote for the TV; it was a remote for the wall. Suddenly, the wall where the TV was went backwards and turned sideways, flipping the wall around to reveal several types of hand guns, grenades and knives on the other side. She strapped two handguns to her thighs and to her hips and strapped the ammunitions belt around her waist. She strapped a knife on either side of her calves and fastened them into place. Valarie pulled her boots on that covered the knives. She slid her hands into leather gloves that revealed the tips of her fingers and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She inserted her earpiece into her ear and switched it on, turning it to the secure channel used by S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Agent Coulson, do you copy?" she said into the earpiece, grabbing her bag and heading to the door. She had less than a minute to get to the roof of the building.

A moment later, he responded, "I copy," he said, "Chopper is waiting on the roof for you now."

Valarie opened the door to the roof with a grunt and she could hear the noise of the chopper on the other side. The wind nearly blew the bag from her shoulder but she held onto it even tighter. Two men in S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms came out and helped her into the chopper. They helped her into a seat and then shut the door behind them at the same time the chopper lifted itself from the building. Valarie looked around and Coulson was not on the chopper. She looked to the guy by her right, "Where's Agent Coulson?!" she asked over the noise of the chopper.

His face was emotionless, like a robot, "At the Stark Tower," was all he said. So Coulson was speaking to Tony, trying to get him in. Valarie had heard Tony Stark was approached by Nick Fury to join S.H.I.E.L.D but apparently he didn't pass the personality test. Apparently he was too self absorbed and arrogant. She wondered why they were calling him in now.

The rest of the journey was silent and Valarie was wondering where they were taking her. She assumed they were taking her to S.H.I.E.L.D HQ, but then they passed over the building and far out into the ocean. There was nothing but water around them and it began to get slightly foggy. Suddenly, a huge ship came into view and Valarie's eyes widened. She could see many planes on top that were in the middle of being strapped down. The chopper landed and many people were rushing toward them to help secure the chopper. Valarie was helped down by one of the Agents and they tossed Valarie her bag. She was met by Agent Coulson on the deck with Natasha Romanoff stood next to him. She wasn't wearing her S.H.I.E.L.D suit; she was wearing a red top with a black leather jacket and black jeans. She had a disturbing look on her face that made Valarie worry.

"Agent Coulson," she said greeting him, "It's good to see you again." He held out his hand and she shook it.

"Likewise," he responded, "I've already briefed Agent Romanoff with the situation. Fury wants to see you in his office right away."

Valarie shrugged and followed one of the Agents who took her down into the main part of the ship. Suddenly, she heard a loud buzzing noise and looked around with an alert feeling in her gut. She gripped the handgun at her side and looked around. The Agent chuckled next to her and said, "It's just a warning that we're about to take off."

"Take off?" Valarie asked, curiously. All of a sudden, she heard the water rushing through the walls and a weird sensation rushing through her body, like when you go up in an elevator. Now she understood what she was standing on. She was inside a helicarrier.

* * *

The Agent brought Valarie straight to Fury's office. He knocked on the door and waited for Fury's permission to walk in. When it was okay to go in, she found him sitting at his desk, pondering over several files she couldn't make out. When he saw Valarie come in, he immediately stood up and gestured to the seat in front of his desk.

"Please sit," he said. Valarie couldn't help but notice the shaken worried tone in his voice. She wondered what a Level Seven was all about. There were many different levels but they had never even reached Level Seven.

She walked over and sat down in the chair. She could finally see the different files on the desk. There were eight different files and Valarie could recognise a few of them. One file had her name on it; it was the same file she looked at when she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D, but it was thicker; clearly they added to it over the years. There was another folder with Natasha's name on it and Clint's. There was one with Tony Stark's name, along with Steve Rogers who she had heard about last year, and one that read Bruce Banner. She had heard about him; he was the Hu-

"Agent Valarie, have you ever heard of The Avengers Initiative?" asked Fury, snapping her out from reading the files. She hadn't gotten to them all, but she was curious about what he was saying.

Valarie shook her head, "I've heard about it, but I don't know much about what it is," she replied, folding her arms.

Fury took a deep breath, "It was an idea that S.H.I.E.L.D had come up with, to bring together a group of extraordinary and remarkable people to be something this world has never seen before. It died down when the Council decided that it was a lost cause, but some of us remaining still believe. The Council don't know this, but I kept the file after they told me to destroy it," he said, gesturing to the files on the table with our names on. "These are the people that were considered to be part of the cause. They are currently on their way here now."

"That file has my name on it," Valarie said abruptly, pointing to the file, "Was I considered?" she asked.

Fury picked up the file and opened it, "You were, but I never got a chance to talk to you about it. Your skill set is as good as, if not better than, Agent Romanoff's," he began, and followed it up by muttering, "Don't tell her I said that." Valarie smiled a little and nodded. He handed her the file and she looked through it; inside was every single case, job or assassination she had ever performed – even the one's she did before she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. They even included her a.k.a. name – The Hunter. After looking through it Valarie began to think of all the different kills she had performed, some she wasn't proud of. She quickly closed the file and set it back on the table.

"Why have you called a Level Seven?" she asked, leaning forward.

Fury gestured for her to take another file from the table that bore the name 'TESSERACT – TOP SECRET'. Valarie opened the file and stared down at a turquoise blue cube, and then at another picture which was in an old fashioned style of photography. She checked the date on the picture and it went back to the 1940's. She began to get surprised that she hadn't heard of it.

"This is the Tesseract, is has the potential energy to wipe out the planet, yet holds the key to sustainable energy, which the world is desperate for. Dr. Erik Selvig was working on it in New Mexico, where the project was being overseen by Agent Barton. Last night, the Tesseract was stolen by this guy," said Fury, and he pushed forward another folder that said 'HOSTILE'. Valarie opened it up and saw a picture of a very pale and a very handsome man, with jet black hair that went down to the nape of his neck and striking green eyes. Valarie tended to his picture for a moment and wondered who this guy way. As if to answer her question, Fury continued, "His name is Loki. He's from another world, called Asgard."

"Wait," she replied, "That's the same place Thor's from. Is Asgard turning into a threat for us? Because if so, shouldn't we be claiming Thor as a hostile?"

"Loki is the brother of Thor. He was the one who sent the destroyer last year, but Thor was fighting his brother. Therefore, we have reason to believe that Thor is not a hostile. But Loki is the threat we need to focus on right now. He's a straight up evil son of a bitch," replied Fury, and Valarie began to feel shocked. She looked back at the picture of Loki and couldn't find any resemblance of Thor in him. He was all green and black, whereas Thor was all gold and red. Complete opposites. Valarie remembered when Clint told her about Thor in New Mexico and had showed her the file with all the destruction and information about Thor. But then she looked down at the picture of Loki and realised, he doesn't look evil, he just looks...broken. Like a lost cause.

"At the moment," continued Fury, "The Tesseract is with the hostile force...along with Barton and Dr. Selvig," he added, with slight annoyance and sorrow in his voice.

Valarie's head shot up and her cheeks began to heat up, "Barton?" she asked, "What do you mean?"

Fury took the folder of Clint Barton and put it to one side, out of Valarie's reach so she couldn't see it. "Agent Barton has been compromised. Loki has with him a scepter that emits similar gamma radiation as the Tesseract. He used it to turn Agent Barton, Eric Selvig and a few other Agents into his own personal bodyguards."

Valarie shook her head, Clint was her friend. But she felt sorry more for Natasha. How she must feel? She knew there was something going on between those two, yet Natasha never said anything. And worse...she owes him a debt. "I don't believe it," she said to no one in particular until she looked up at Fury, "Where is Barton now?" she asked.

"We don't know, but were currently scanning facial recognition all over the globe via security camera's, laptops, phones, for Barton, Selvig and Loki. We'll get a match and then we'll take him out," replied Fury.

Valarie sat back in her chair, contemplating what this was all about, "What does Loki want with the Tesseract?"

Fury shrugged, "We don't know all of the details until we can study more. We've got time, Agent Valarie. At the moment, we're debriefing everyone on board and looking out for any matches. In the meantime, I suggest you make your way down to the command centre. Everyone will be meeting there."

Valarie stood up and walked towards the door, when she stopped. It suddenly hit her that a Level Seven was far from anything normal. It was war. "Sir," she began, turning back, "Are we ready for a Level Seven?" she asked.

Fury tried to put on a serious face but even he couldn't hide the desperate look on his face, "If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives. Our enemy_ is_, and that's why we're bringing together a response team."

Valarie wondered around the grounds of the helicarrier, all the while realising that she was in midair. She always felt uneasy when she was flying; she liked to drive everywhere or take the bus or cab. Engines could falter and next thing you know, you're dropping altitude that makes your guts rush up to your brain, and eventually you shit your pants. As the thought travelled to her brain, Valarie shuddered and continued down the corridor. She had heard the 'Avengers' had just arrived and were looking for signs of Loki all across the Globe. For the meantime, Valarie had nothing to do other than wait. She decided to see what Natasha was up to.

"Agent Romanoff, what's your location?" Valarie asked into her earpiece whilst wandering around the corridor.

A moment later she got a response, "Laboratory, second floor," she said. Valarie looked around and realised she was on the second floor. She searched around and went down nearly every corridor until she reached the end. In the middle there was a large laboratory with a huge window that overlooked the sky. Natasha was accompanied by another man wearing a purple shirt, black trousers and glasses. He had an unusually calm face but seemed friendly. Valarie knocked on the door and swiped her key card that made the door slide open to the side.

"Hi, I hope I'm not interrupting," said Valarie as she entered the lab, smiling at Natasha. She looked to the other man and extended her hand, "Agent Valarie."

The man took his glasses off and shook her hand, "Dr. Banner," he said. His voice was low and Valarie instantly knew him as Dr. Bruce Banner, the one known as The Hulk. She didn't mention it, as she didn't want to anger him. From reading his file, he had serious anger issues, but learnt to control it. Yes, it's been years since his...'accident' but who's to say nothing will spark another one. Dr. Banner continued, "So you're a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent, too?" he asked, letting go over her hand.

Valarie nodded, "Have been for 6 years and hope to continue. How come you've been called in?" she asked. Obviously, if he was sent to the Laboratory, then he was here for research but Valarie could sense the warning look Natasha gave her but didn't say anything. For the past 6 years, Natasha felt like an older sister to Valarie. They were close and they always hung out. And they were Fury's favourite girls.

Dr. Banner showed her a screen he was using that had a global scanning system, "I've apparently been asked to look for the Cube."

Valarie scrunched her face at his reference, "You mean the Tesseract?" she asked, but knew the answer was 'yes'. "I guess it makes sense calling it that," she continued, "But why have they asked you?"

Dr. Banner walked around his lab table, "The Cube emits small amounts of gamma radiation which I can track using algorithms based on cluster recognition. I'll be able to use it when every lab puts their spectrometers on their roofs and calibrate them for gamma rays."

It was like some information went through one ear and out the other. He saw Valarie's expression and realised she was a little confused. "Basically, the spectrometers will work like sensors, and when they sense gamma radiation similar to that of the Cube, we'll be able to get a hit," replied Dr. Banner.

Valarie was about to respond when someone began to talk to her through her earpiece. "Agent Valarie," began Fury, "Agent Romanoff." Valarie saw Natasha stiffen at Fury's tone. "We got a match on Loki. Stuttgart, Germany. Meet Captain Rogers at the aircraft port and take the Quinjet."

Valarie and Natasha both shared a look and nodded towards Dr. Banner. He understood what was going on and quickly went back to his work as Natasha and Valarie ran out of the room and towards the aircraft port. They had to take the stairs down towards the deck and into the aircraft port. Steve was already there, suited up and holding his shield in his right hand. Valarie and Natasha were running towards him and he stepped aside so they could get towards the front. As Valarie passed him, she noticed that he had raging muscles almost bursting out of suit. Then she shook her head and let the thought pass.

She joined Natasha at the cockpit and Steve took a seat behind them and strapped himself in. Valarie put on her headphones and switched the engines on above her. Natasha fastened her seatbelt, pushed her hair out of her face, and took hold of the wheels. The other Agents and engineers knew they were leaving because they opened the doors for Natasha to swing them out onto the runway. They built up speed and eventually kick-started up into the sky.

It took a few hours for them to get to Germany but the Quinjet was faster than any jet. They were silent for most of the time, as the moment was intense; they could be getting the Tesseract from Loki and hopefully stop him. They wondered why he was in Germany walking around in plain sight; he wasn't exactly hiding. Valarie twitched her thumbs against the controllers as she and Natasha drove the Quinjet.

It was night over in Germany and Valarie found that they were having a Gala in one of their main buildings. The building was surrounded by lights and banners and people standing in elegant clothing. As they rounded around the building, Valarie looked behind her and saw out the corner of her eye Steve jumping from the Quinjet with a parachute on his back. Valarie turned back and saw Loki coming out of the building, changing his clothes with a bright green light. What was once, in his hand, a golden walking stick, was now a long golden scepter with blue glowing light at the tip. Suddenly, Loki turned into half a dozen Loki's and was surrounding all the German people in one big heap. Valarie could hear his booming voice from where she and Natasha were. His accent was British, but he definitely wasn't from England.

"I said...'KNEEEEEL!'" He stomped his long scepter on the ground that was connected with the scepters of the other Loki's. Very slowly, and cautiously, the people in the middle began to go down on one knee in terror. Loki seemed pleased with himself. Valarie could see Steve running up down the side just as an elderly man stood up and face Loki head on.

Valarie couldn't hear what he said, but, from what Loki was about to do, it clearly pissed him off. He raised his scepter and pointed it at the elderly man, clearly wanting to eliminate him. The blue light began to go even brighter and a burst of energy threw itself off the scepter and towards the man. Just in the nick of time, Steve stepped in and blocked the blue energy light with his shield. It bounced off and went straight back to Loki, knocking him back on his ass.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing," yelled Steve. Valarie and Natasha could hear him through their earpieces because they were in the same signal space as each other.

Loki pushed himself up and glared at Steve. Natasha tensed up when she saw Loki's angered face and moved to hover high above Steve's head with a machine gun pointing towards Loki. She turned on the microphone and increased the volume so she could be heard by Loki. She turned on her serious, threatening voice, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

In almost an instant, Loki shot at them with his scepter and, luckily, Natasha manoeuvred out of the way before they got hit. "Shit!" cried Valarie gaining her composure. When Loki was busy trying to shoot down the aircraft, Steve hit him in the face with his shield and began to use his boxing skills to take him down. At some point, Steve got his shield knocked out of his hands and was kneeling on the ground whilst Loki pointed his scepter at his head.

Through the earpiece Valarie was wearing, she could hear Loki's cruel voice as he growled close to Steve, "Kneel." _What was up with this guy and kneeling? _Valarie thought. Steve pushed his scepter aside, flipped and knocked him aside by his leg. But Loki grabbed him and flipped him over. All the while, Natasha was trying to get a clear shot of Loki.

"Shoot him!" Valarie cried, trying to lock a target on Loki.

Natasha was trying to get the machine gun in position, "I can't!" she yelled back, "The guy's all over the place." Just when things were about to get worse and even more frustrating, someone overwrote the system and began to play ACDC's 'Shoot to Thrill' over the aircraft and the microphone was still on. Technically, the Quinjet was being used as a sound system by no other but Tony Stark.

"Agent Romanoff," said Tony, communicating through their secret channel, "Did you miss me?" Valarie laughed and turned to Natasha giving her a knowing smirk that she waved off. He rocketed past the Quinket and shot Loki, knocking him back towards the steps. He slammed down on the ground in a kneeling pose, crushing his fist against the cement and leaving cracks and dents in the ground. He stood and pointed every single piece of weaponry the suit could offer towards Loki. "Make your move, Reindeer Games," he said to Loki and Valarie could tell he enjoyed it.

Loki put up his hands up in surrender and his armour materialised into something that, definitely didn't look normal on earth, but had a lot less metal on and more leather.

"Good move," continued Tony. Natasha positioned the Quinjet on the ground and opened up the hatch at the back. Tony and Steve escorted Loki onto the Quinjet and secured him in his seat. Tony opened up his helmet so you could see his face and Valarie noticed that he had sharpened his beard and moustache since last time she saw him. He and Steve were conversing about Loki. Valarie kept stealing glances behind her and, for some reason; Loki was staring in her direction. His green eyes were captivating and so unusual. They were like glistening emeralds reflecting sunlight. His pale complexion was odd for a human...but then again, he wasn't exactly human. Loki caught her staring at her, and he slowly gave her his famous smirk that made chills run up her spine. Valarie quickly looked away and overheard Fury talking to them in their earpieces.

"Said anything?" he asked.

Natasha and Valarie both looked behind them and found Loki staring off into space with a serious yet calm look on his face. "Not a word," Natasha responded. Valarie settled back into her seat and stared straight ahead. She didn't like the way Loki smirked at her. She couldn't help but sense uneasiness coming from Natasha, but she could see why she hated the guy; he had Clint working for him under some kind of spell. It may not be love, but Clint and Natasha were closer than any two people Valarie had ever met. As she was thinking, she overheard Tony and Steve conversing.

"I don't like it," started Steve, staring at Loki, who was still looking into dead space. He wondered what he could be thinking. He cautiously leaned towards the others so that Loki couldn't hear them whispering. What he didn't know, was that Loki could hear everything.

Tony responded with his usual jokes to go along with his character. Valarie understood why he failed the personality test for S.H.I.E.L.D, it seemed like he took everything as a joke. "What?" he asked, "Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

Steve didn't understand reference that well but he figured it had something to do with Loki's hair, "I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop," he replied, remembering the hit he took from Loki earlier in Germany.

"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older guy. What's your thing? Pilates?" asked Tony.

Steve answered with a curious expression, "What?" He didn't understand all of these references Tony was making.

He rolled his eyes, "It's like calisthenics," Tony replied, again being met with confused eyes from Steve, "You might have missed a couple of things," he continued, "You know, doing time as a Capsicle."

Steve stood up straighter and eyed Tony, analysing his behaviour and the way he spoke. Steve realised that he finally met his ego match. Tony was more of a joke around, have a fun time kind of guy but still getting the job done, whereas Steve only cared about getting the job done. All work and no play makes Steve a...soldier.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," Steve replied.

Tony shrugged and looked him square in the face with a smug expression, "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." Tony went to pat Steve on the shoulder, as if to annoy him, but instead used him to steady himself as a bolt of lightning nearly hit the jet, causing it to shake violently.

"Where's this coming from?" asks Natasha and she and Valarie leaned forward and stared up at the sky. There was lightning everywhere. Valarie looked down at their weather radar. She had checked the weather forecast for the journey back and they weren't expecting lightning right now. They weren't expecting to travel through thunderclouds at _all. _

Steve looked around him as more thunder erupted around them. He noticed Loki looking slightly distraught as he stared out of the window intently. "What's the matter?" asked Steve in a mocking tone, "Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki didn't take his eyes of the window and he suddenly turned paler than his usual complexion, "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Steve and Tony shared a look together that could only be described as 'what the fuck?'. Very suddenly, the jet experience a jolt above them, like something landed on top of the jet and Loki began to shake slightly...more from anger than fear. A light went off beside Valarie which controlled the hatch at the back of the jet. It was going off, meaning that the lock was breaking. Something – or _someone _– was forcing the hatch open.

Valarie looked behind her as she heard the hatch screech open. She saw a long blonde, bulky looking man – more bulky than Steve – holding, what could only be described as, a huge hammer. He wore blue and silver armour and a floor length red cape billowed behind him. Thor. He grabbed Loki by his collar and pulled him from his seat, ripping the straps from the seat. He swung his hammer around in a flash and soon he was gone from the jet.

Steve and Tony shared a look of even more confusion. Tony readied his helmet and moved towards the hatch door, but Steve stopped him, whilst reaching for a parachute. "Stark!" he cried, "We need a plan of attack!"

Tony was still stalking towards the edge of the jet before he turned his shoulder towards Steve, "I have a plan," he replied, "Attack." And he shot off after Thor. Steve tried to rush himself into the parachute, strapping himself all around him. He had a long way to go if he was going to catch up with the other two.

"I'd sit this one out Cap," said Natasha, trying to yell over the gushing over the wind as she snapped some switches above her, "These guys come from legends; their basically Gods!"

Steve had finished putting on his parachute and moved over to the edge of the jet, "There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." He jumped off the jet and Natasha sighed. Valarie couldn't help but giggle at his comment.

"What do we do now?" asked Valarie, "I think that's Thor who took Loki, I thought he protects Earth and yet he just stole our criminal."

Natasha manoeuvred the jet to turn around towards the site where Thor took Loki. "I'm turning this thing around. Cap'll bring him back," she replied. Natasha pinpointed the co-ordinates from where Loki was taken and all they could do was wait.

* * *

Loki had said nothing on the way back to the helicarrier after...whatever happened down there. Tony had come back with a cut on his eyebrow and a bruise on his shoulder. It was clarified that the guy in the red cape _was_ Loki's brother, Thor, and that he didn't mean to cause harm or trouble. He meant to do the same as what they were trying to do; stop Loki.

As they got back to the helicarrier and landed, a swarm of Agents surrounded the back of the jet with guns. Loki was escorted off the jet and was circled by Agents. Without another word, he was taken away from the aircraft port and through a set of sliding doors. Valarie had a feeling they were taking him to the containment unit. She wondered what that was for, and now she finally knew. She wanted to see what was going on. Natasha pointed out that he was being watched by several cameras and they could see and hear what they were saying.

Valarie and Natasha rushed towards the briefing room where Dr. Banner was currently sitting, taking the time to come and watch the show. They were soon joined with Steve, Tony, Thor and Agent Hill. On the screen, they could see Loki being put in the glass containment unit and Fury waltzed on, going towards a keypad.

"In case it wasn't clear," they heard him began, pressing some buttons on the pad, "You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass." He pressed another button and the floor opened up underneath Loki's cell. Loki looked down as far as he could see and Valarie could see the anxious look on his face. "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap! You get how that works?!" Fury cried over the roar of the gushing wind. He tapped some more buttons and the hatch closed. "Ant," he said pointing to Loki, and then he pointed to the pad, "Boot."

Loki walked around the cell, admiring the human technology, "It's an impressive cage," he said, with his arms wide open, "Not built, I think, for someone like me." Valarie wanted to smack the smugness right from his face.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury replied.

Loki nodded, "Oh, I've heard," he said, and looked straight at the camera. Valarie could see the pair of soul sucking green eyes of his and shivered, "The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man." Valarie realised he was talking about Dr. Banner. She felt sorry for the guy, having to be reminded of his...accident. "How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki continued.

Fury almost scoffed and slowly moved forward, toward Loki, as he spoke, "How desperate am I?" he repeated, "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, yet you kill 'coz it's fun." He stopped moving, "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

Loki leaned forward, the smugness bright on his pale face, "Ooh," he said, "It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And For what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

The corners of Fury's mouth turned up slightly, "Well let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something." He left Loki alone, leaving the sarcastic 'in your face' comment hanging in the air. Eventually, the screen went off and Valarie turned back to the rest of them.

But she wasn't interested in what they had to say; she wanted to talk to Fury. She lifted herself from her seat and rushed out of the room, trying to find her way towards the containment room where Fury was. After passing many doors and ran down endless corridors, she stopped when she accidently ran into the containment room herself. She didn't want to be here; she wanted to intercept Fury's path and talk to him about what's going on.

"Hello, darling," Loki greeted, catching her eye with that smug face of his. Valarie could feel the redness in her cheek glowing. "Are you lost?"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. **

**I've recently heard that Thor 3 has been confirmed, but there's not much to go on with the plot. All we know is there's a 3rd Thor Movie. But we don't watch it for Thor, do we guys? We watch if for Loki! **

**Anyway, until next time!**

**-Caz :D **


	6. Chapter 2: Compromised

**I know this chapter is a little shorter than the last one, but the next one will be longer. I hope to upload the next chapter before 16th July. **

**Disclaimer at the end.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Compromised**

As he stood there in front of Valarie, he stared her up and down; like he was judging her. A small, satisfied smile played on his face and it made her insides burn. The heat grew in her cheeks and she immediately regretted leaving to go and look for Fury. She should have just stayed there and discussed things with the others. She didn't like being with this guy; he was crazy. He had killed 80 people in just two days.

"Aren't you a pretty little thing," said Loki, smirking even wider as he met her eyes. "Come to give me some company?" He stood there, close to the glass, with his hands clasped behind his back.

Valarie stood her ground and crossed her arms, "Thank you for the compliment," she said, "But I'm not interested." She began to move closer to the glass, "I want to know what it is you want."

Loki smirked, "Well, right now, I'm looking at it." Valarie could taste the bile that was threatening to come up from her stomach. She forced it back down again.

She shook her head, "That's not what I meant," she replied, "I want to know what it is you're planning. Why are you here? What do you want with the Tesseract? And why do you need Agent Barton and Erik Selvig?"

Loki laughed but it wasn't innocent, "You ask a lot of questions. I only mean to rule this world. Midgard has no ruler and therefore it is running free."

"You think our world is free? We've been fighting for freedom ever since the dark ages!" Valarie cried. "Peace is all we ask for!"

Loki laughed even louder, "Peace and freedom are two very different things. You cannot have them both. Peace can only be known if you accept freedom as a lie."

Valarie stiffened. She hated this guy and his means to rule the world. There can be no King of Earth; it's too big for just one man. But he's no man, she remembered, he's a God. He was hard to defeat and, from looking at his file, had his own set of powers he can play with.

"And the Tesseract?" asked Valarie, "It was used to open up a door from a different world to bring you into ours. Do you mean to open up another door?"

Loki smirked, "You're smart for a Midgardian. I like that." Valarie tried to fight the blush in her cheeks; she wasn't used to people making comments about her. She refrained from anything like that. She turned away from her. "Do I frighten you?" he asked.

Valarie scoffed, "Hardly," she replied, "I've seen worse."

Even with her back turned away from him, she could feel Loki's smirk burn the back of her head, "Ah yes," he replied, "So I've heard."

_What? _Valarie snapped back towards Loki with a curious and angry face. What was he talking about? What had he heard? He was sitting in the only seat he had in the cell and was studying her. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

But before Loki could answer her, she got a call in her earpiece, "Agent Valarie, report to my office." It was Fury and he didn't sound happy.

Frustrated with herself, Valarie left Loki without another word. She could feel his eyes raking her body as she left and she cursed the way he made her feel: exposed. Valarie turned up at Fury's office, dreading the conversation she was about to have. Was he mad at her for not being part of the discussion? For interrogating Loki? Or maybe he was angry for a different matter? Were they losing this war?

She knocked on his door and waited for permission to enter. Once it was granted, she entered the room and found him at his desk with his head in his hands. Papers were all over his desk claiming facts about the Tesseract and reports on various locations as to where it could be.

"Fury?" said Valarie when he didn't say anything. She didn't sit down at his desk where she normally sat when she was in his office. Instead, she stood by him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What are your thoughts?" she asked.

She heard him sigh, "I don't know what's right anymore," he began, "I can't understand this guy. I don't even know what he wants." Valarie knew Fury was referring to Loki. He was hard to understand but he was making it hard for all of them.

"He wants to get to us, and we can't let that happen," she replied, "Look at yourself, I've never seen you so frustrated. Stop acting like the world is ending because it's not." She took a step back and helped Fury to his feet, "Not right now it isn't. So we keep fighting."

Fury finally turned to face her, "I knew it was a good idea for you to work with S.H.I.E.L.D," he said, and Valarie felt warmth in her heart, like she always had with Fury. He was like a father to her in many ways; he always believed in her and always took care of her. They had had their good times and their bad times and he was the person she would turn to when she was always so frustrated, because he would always make her feel like she was capable of doing anything. And that was what she was doing right now; giving him moral support.

"Loki is trying to wind us up," Valarie continued, "We shouldn't let ourselves be compromised. He wants the Tesseract to build another doorway into Earth, but what for?"

Fury turned his attention to the file on the Tesseract, "Thor mentioned he has an army, called the Chitauri. But he needs Erik Selvig because he's an Astrophysicist and can help enhance the portal with Iridium which was why they were in Germany. Unfortunately, we have been notified that Agent Barton had stolen the Iridium whilst we were retrieving Loki. According to Mr. Stark, the Iridium can stabilise the Tesseract so that, when it does open up another portal, it can stay open for as wide and for as long as Loki wants, and it won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D's base in New Mexico." He rummaged through all the pictures and papers in the folder. "Dr. Banner and Stark are down in the lab right now searching for the Tesseract and studying Loki's scepter. Right now, we've got him under lockdown in the cell and no idea where the Tesseract could be. He's not leading an army from there."

Valarie scrunched up her face, "Loki's a smug faced sonofabitch...he wants to rule Earth as a King."

Fury stopped rummaging through his papers and glared at Valarie, "How did you know that's what he wants?" he asked.

Valarie suddenly froze, not taking her eyes from Fury. Who knows what he would do if he found out she interrogated a criminal without authorisation. She suddenly turned red and looked down at her feet, "After your talk with Loki, I spoke to him in the detention centre."

His face didn't change and Valarie wanted to know what he was thinking. Slowly, he nodded his head, "I know." Valarie flinched and looked confused. Fury continued, "When I came back to my office, I checked in on Loki and found you only inches away from his cell." He went to sit at the edge of his desk, "I just wanted to hear you admit it." He smiled, like he was proud that Valarie didn't keep something like that from him, but then he turned serious, "Don't interrogate a criminal without my authorisation. It's not the skill I need from you."

"You need my assassination skills. My skills to fight...whatever is coming, this Chitauri," Valarie responded without thinking. She froze.

Fury didn't say anything at first and he realised that Valarie felt like that was all was needed from her; like it was all she was good for. He sighed, "That's not what I meant. You're an incredible S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Valarie, and I'm happy that I made the right decision six years ago. Don't ever think that killing is all your good at. Over the years, you've learnt how to think first and shoot later; not many Agents out there do that. You're good at thinking things over and acting upon the right decisions. But right now, I'm worried for you."

"Worried?" Valarie replied, "Why are you worried about me?"

Fury turned on the monitor on the wall and switched it to Loki's cell. It was creepy; he was looking directly at the camera. His piercing emerald eyes were burning into Valarie's memory. "I didn't like what he was saying to you," Fury exclaimed, "And I _definitely_ didn't like the way he was looking at you."

Valarie tried to give him a reassuring, warm smile, "You have nothing to worry about," she said, "Like I said, Loki's trying to get to us all; hit us where we're most vulnerable. I've never had a relationship before in my life and I liked it that way; Loki, somehow, can sense that." Fury looked slightly embarrassed to have this conversation.

"Still, be careful," he said.

Valarie nodded, "I know," she replied, but she knew this conversation was far from over.

"No, Valarie, I'm telling you to be careful. And don't interrogate him without my permission. Are we clear, Agent?"

Valarie knew he was putting on his Director voice and speaking to her as an employee. Her shoulders slumped a bit, "Yes, Sir," she replied, and walked out the door, giving it a slam on her way out.

* * *

Agent Romanoff stole a moment away from the other to find out the one thing she needed to know the most; what happened to Agent Barton. She remembered the way he looked at her when he had come to kill her; it was the same look she used on Valarie six years ago. With each passing hour, Natasha grew restless and tired, like each hour was another mile away from getting Clint back. She needed to speak to the only person who knew what happened to him; the person who changed him. Loki.

"Not many people can sneak up on me," he said, as he stopped pacing in his cell and turned to look at her.

Natasha stood there with her arms folded, stopping them from shaking. She had been given authorisation to interrogate Loki, but her mission was to find out what he was planning. She was warned, by Thor, how manipulative Loki could be – how he could make people feel and remember their demons. And Natasha had many demons. "But you figured I'd come," she replied.

"After. After whatever tortures Fury could concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate," he said. He was right about that. Natasha didn't like the way he was so calm about everything.

This was it; the moment of truth, "I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton," she stated.

Loki blinked, "I'd say I've expanded his mind."

Expanded his mind to what; Agent Barton wasn't thinking straight. He had him under some kind of spell; like his own personal robot that only he could control. Will he ever be the same again? "And once you've won," she replied, "Once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?" she folded her arms again as she paced closer to the cell.

Loki laughed slightly, "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" he asked.

Natasha didn't even flinch. She was closer to Clint Barton than any other Agent; they've fought together for many years. It was always something more than friendship, but neither of them would admit it. She didn't know what they were, but she knew what they had wasn't love. "Love is for children," she replied, "I owe him a debt."

Loki turned and sat down on the seat behind him, "Tell me."

Natasha was surprised at his interest, but, nevertheless, she might as well explain the reason. She went to sit on a box just outside the cell. "Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D, I...uh, well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for...or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"

Natasha tilted her head, "I'll let you out," she replied.

Loki laughed, "Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

Natasha didn't let that hit her, "Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian...or I was." It was true. And Agent Barton wasn't just what you'd call 'one man'. He's important to the lives of many people. Especially Natasha's.

"What is it you want?" Loki asked.

* * *

Valarie sat in her small room looking over her own file. She had swiped it from Fury's desk when he wasn't looking when she was first called here. She wanted to know what was said about her as they filled up the file. As she skimmed the pages, most of them were about her missions and the results. She was interested in her personal information; like her family history. She couldn't get over the fact that Elsa, the woman who owned the orphanage, was dead. She wondered what was happening to the orphanage now. She decided to switch on her laptop to search the orphanage.

SEARCH: CALIFORNIA STATE ORPHANAGE FOR GIRLS

_California State Orphanage for Girls 1980-2005_

_For the duration the orphanage was standing, it was owned by Elsa Michelle Hopkin until her recent death in 2005, ending the orphanage. It was home to 27 young girls. 23 of them found happy homes during their time spent there. The remainder of the girls were transferred to a number of orphanages in California. _

_Elsa Michelle Hopkin had been suffering from terminal cancer for over 9 years, but, from recent reports from adopted parents, found that she adored every minute she spent with the young girls and was sad to see them leave._

_Government funding was put forward for the building of this orphanage until it finally stopped its funding to pay for other things in 1991. The building, currently, stands waiting to be reclaimed._

The article went on but Valarie couldn't read anymore. It was like reliving her childhood. She closed the browser and went back to her file. She looked over to the section where it described her personality as a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent. She was particular interested in this section, as it told her about her personality from start to finish.

_Name: Agent Valarie _

_Start Date: July 6__th__, 2007_

_Current Security Level: 5_

_Personality Description: Over the years, Valarie has grown into the young woman that she is today, but now and then I can see she lets her demons pass. Overall, Valarie has trust issues, but she can make the right decision when needed. Throughout her training at S.H.I.E.L.D by Agent Natasha Romanoff, Valarie refuses to work with other Agents when sent on missions but will comply if more than one Agent is needed. As the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, I can state that Valarie is excellent for whatever job you throw at her and will not complain when things get tough. She's a fighter, and, better yet – she's a hunter. I am personally glad that Valarie agreed to become a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent for we needed someone like her. Although, Valarie can defy orders but with good reason. She follows her instincts and that is the only thing she trusts. And her first instinct is usually right. Therefore I trust her. _

_Authorised by Director Nick Fury. _

Valarie smiled at how Fury described her. There were things in there that were true; she did have trust issues. It was something she generated when she was younger and began to live the life of an assassin. She also liked the fact that her security level was a 5, which was the highest classified security level you could get. She put down the folder. She knew Fury was right when she defied orders but she was surprised he found them with good reason.

She couldn't help herself. Valarie switched on the TV and turned to the channel that was watching Loki. She was fascinated by the guy but not in a good way. He seemed to grind her gears internally but Valarie tried to see past the touch exterior he seems to portray, though she found nothing. As soon as the detention centre came into view, she almost gasped. With wide eyes, Valarie stood up. Loki wasn't alone in there.

Natasha was stood just outside the cell with her arms folded. Valarie rushed to the detention centre. She didn't dare go inside the centre, not after the way Loki made her feel. She stood to the sidelines watching through a piece of glass. She could see Loki and Natasha saying words but she couldn't hear them. She needed to turn the speakers on.

When she found the red switch, she could finally hear what they were saying.

"It's really not that complicated," Natasha said, approaching the cell with her arms folded, "I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you?" Loki replied, knowingly, "Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter?" he asked, and Natasha froze. "Sāo Paulo? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything." Natasha widened her eyes and Loki stood up. He stalked towards her as he spoke, "This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child's prayer...PATHETIC!" he cried. He was inches away from the glass now. "You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something to make up for the horrors. But they are part of you, and they will never go away!" Suddenly, Loki slammed his hand on the glass, making Natasha flinch; her eyes were beginning to water. "I won't touch Barton. Not before I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull!" Natasha turned away, not bearing to look at Loki as he growled at her. "This is my bargain you mewling quim."

She was disgusted. Even as he spoke of her torture, she could imagine what Barton would do to her and it broke her heart. "You're a monster," she whispered, distraughtly.

Loki gave a menacing laugh, "No," he replied, "You brought the monster."

Natasha regained composure and turned on Loki, "So, Banner?" she asked, "That's your play!"

Loki responded with a dumbfounded look, "What?"

Natasha rushed down the steps whilst speaking into her earpiece. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm my way. Send Thor as well." Valarie could hear what she was saying. She saw Natasha run out of the lab, after she said her last words to Loki with a smug face, "Thank you," she said, "For your cooperation."

Valarie couldn't help herself. Even thought Natasha showed no signs of emotion after the things he said to her, but he had no right. Valarie didn't know anything about Natasha's past only that it was bad. It was bad enough that she couldn't even talk about it. And to have Loki remind her of it...Natasha was a good little actress, but you can't run from your past. Valarie almost stumbled down the stairs as she approached Loki.

"You had no RIGHT to say those things to her?" she cried, almost pounding on the glass. She wasn't scared of cracking it and unlocking the hatch below; she wasn't strong enough. The glass was built for something immensely stronger than her.

Loki's face just made Valarie even more irritated with him. He was a monster. He may not look like one, but evil comes in all different shapes and sizes. He was a monster on the inside. "I only reminded her of what real power is. She cannot run from her past; it is part of her. It will always be part of her. As your past is part of you."

Valarie froze, "Don't you dare," she growled, "Don't you dare think that you know anything about me. You may know the things I've done, but you do not know about _me_."

Loki scoffed, "I know plenty," he replied, "Your ledger is worse than that of Agent Romanoff. Redemption, my pretty, is out of your reach. In the end, no matter how much good you've done, it will not replace the horrors in which your life was built from."

Tears threatened Valarie's eyes and she turned so Loki couldn't see her cry. She hadn't cried in years and yet, this guy, right in front of her, had cracked her. Valarie had trained herself to keep her emotions intact and to not let them cloud her judgement. She had forgotten how it felt to let her walls down and to fully collapse in a sob. Then she realised. This was what Loki was trying to do; hit her where she was weakest. Her past always crept up on her one way or another; something she was experienced in. And the something she was inexperienced in; intimacy. The way he looked at her made her skin crawl.

She dried her face and slowly turned towards Loki, "You're right when you say that my past is always part of me. But they are what we call demons. And, like most demons, we can learn to overcome them."

"But the bigger the demon, the harder it is to overcome. And, I'm afraid to say this, darling," he replied, "You've got the biggest demon of them all."

Valarie folded her arms, trying to stop them from shaking. She glared at Loki with as much anger and courage as she could muster. What was left, at least. "No amount of guilt can change the past and no amount of anxiety can change the future. So why bother trying to change it."

"But you feel it, don't you," said Loki as he slowly stalked towards the edge of the glass. "The small feeling of guilt growing deep within you. It'll always be there, creeping up on you when you least expect it. You feel guilt because you believe in sentimentality. That is your biggest weakness." His nose was almost touching the glass and Valarie could see his breathe fogging up on the cell. She noticed how tall he was for a God. He was only 6ft 2" but even Valarie went up to his shoulder. He was a good head bigger than her.

She didn't like the way he towered over her, "We all have our sad tale...it's just we're tired of remembering it that way."

Something flickered in Loki's eyes and Valarie thought she saw something but didn't know what, because it soon disappeared. A wide grin grew on his face and, suddenly, a loud explosion happened somewhere on the helicarrier, causing it to tilt right. Valarie was thrown off her feet and she gripped the railing for support.

"What the fuck was that?!" she screamed into her earpiece, pulling herself up to her feet. Loki was still standing there, as if the explosion hadn't bothered him.

Valarie heard Agent Hill yell through her earpiece, "Number 3 Engine is down! Somebody's got to get outside and patch that engine!"

"Stark! You copy that?!" cried Fury. Valarie rushed down the steps towards the exit.

She stopped as Loki said his final words, "Run, little hunter," he said in his velvet voice, "Try and save the liars you call your friends."

Valarie forced herself not to listen to him but it was like his words were echoing inside her head. As she rushed down the many corridors, trying to get to the helicarrier bridge, she remembered what he'd said; about liars and killers. She had thought she was different to the others but she realised that they were all the same – running from the horrors of their past and trying to make up for them. But once you're a killer, you will always be a killer. She pretended to be separate – that's how she lived all her life. It was then that Valarie felt her most lowest. Her most weakest. She clutched her heart where it ached the most.

And then she realised. She did not heed Fury's warning about being careful. Loki is a manipulative sonofabitch and will do anything to get under someone's skin. Valarie realised something she wish she hadn't come to. She had been compromised.

* * *

**Disclaimer for Quotes:**

**In Valarie's personality report, Fury writes that her first instinct is always right. Unknown author for that quote but I found it on Pinterest. **

**'We all have our sad tale, we are tired or remembering it that way' - Walter Disney quoted that from _Saving Mr Banks. _**

**I think that was all the quotes. If anyone recognises any more, please let me know in the review and I will update this chapter. **

**Please let me know what you think or want from the story. R&R please!**

**Until next time!**

**-Caz :D **


	7. Chapter 3: The Fall of SHIELD

**I hope you all are ready for another chapter. As promised this one is a lot longer. I aim for at least 5000 words a chapter. **

**Enjoy. **

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**The Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D**

'_Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality."_

_ -Bruce Lee_

As the drone of the warning buzzer screamed through her skull, Valarie tried to make her way over to the Helicarrier Bridge. The place was already beginning to sit lopsided to the right and Valarie had to slide her hands along the wall to keep herself from topping over. Her hand gun was ready in her hands just waiting to strike a kill at the enemy...though she had no idea who the enemy was.

When Valarie entered the Helicarrier Bridge, the scene she saw in front of her was madness. It was Agent against Criminal out there. Valarie recognised a few of them as the guys she locked away. Loki must have used his mind control spell to turn them into his own henchmen like he did with Clint and Dr. Selvig. Valarie skimmed her back against the wall as the bullets started ricocheting around the room.

As she turned her head around the corner, she could see men and women down on the ground. Dead. Some wearing S.H.I.E.L.D uniform and some were just wearing black gear. What worried her most was that there were more S.H.I.E.L.D Agents dead than there were criminals. All of a sudden, sparks flew around her as a bullet hit a computer screen, sending the power cords flying and sparks spraying from the ends.

Valarie took a deep breath and rounded the corner, her arm outstretched and her finger ready on the trigger. She aimed and fired her gun, the bullet going straight through a criminals head, sending the blood spraying out behind him and hitting the wall. Another shot, hitting a man right in the chest, his gun clattering to the ground, where another S.H.I.E.L.D Agent – clearly out of ammo – picked up the gun and started to use it. Valarie shot again, hitting another guy, who was running, in the knee, making him kneel and clutch his leg in agony. As he screamed, Agent Hill fired him in the chest, stopping him from screaming any more. Valarie and Agent Hill shared a look and they nodded at each other. Agent Hill reach for her earpiece, still looking at Valarie.

"Some men have gone down the detention centre," she said through her earpiece, as she fired some more shots at the guy. "They'll try and free Loki, you have to stop them!" Sparks flew around her face and small explosion happened right next to her. When Valarie saw her next she had blood on her forehead, but she was okay.

Valarie turned and started her way back over to the detention centre. Her heart flipped when she realised she would be seeing Loki again, but it wasn't the good kind of flip when you feel butterflies in your stomach. It actually kind of hurt her a little bit. She didn't like the way he made her feel. With all her thoughts, Valarie wanted to slap herself in the face. She put on her brave face and ran down the hall. She was coming to a cross-roads point in the hallway, when a man ran down the other way. He stopped when he spotted Valarie, but before he could even raise his gun, Valarie shot him in the throat; blood spurted out from his open wound and the man clutched his throat. It was like his throat was his lifeline and he longed to keep hold of what little life he had left. Valarie winced when she realised who he was. He was one of the criminals she caught.

She didn't let it get to her though. Valarie continued to fight more Agents until she reached the detention centre. There were already men down around her and she could hear Loki's voice around the corner. He didn't sound like he was in a cell anymore.

"Humans think us immortal, brother," said Loki and Valarie realised he must be talking to Thor. But why were they not fighting each other. Valarie peered through the doorway and found that thee sides had changed. Thor was in the cell, powerless with a glimpse of fear in his eyes. Valarie realised that the hatch had unlocked itself below Thor, just waiting for permission to let itself go. Which was down to Loki, as he stood beside the control pad Fury was standing by before. "Shall we test that?" he asked.

Valarie peered round the doorway a little more, so she could see what Loki was doing. He was about to hit the red button when suddenly, the guard that was standing behind him dropped to the floor, dead, and a voice perked up. "Move away please."

Valarie manoeuvred herself and saw that it was Agent Coulson – he was taking on Loki alone! He was being stupid, but Valarie admired his bravery. He was holding a very large gun that, even Valarie hadn't seen before, and Coulson didn't feel too confident holding the thing. "You like this?" he asked. "We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer." When he mentioned The Destroyer, Valarie remembered that he was talking about the big mechanical thing shaped like a man that blew fire from its face. From the files Barton gave her when he was working down in New Mexico, it hadn't come from this world but Asgard. Valarie wondered, were S.H.I.E.L.D trying to replicate Asgardian technology? "Even I don't know what it does," continued Coulson. He turned the switch on the side and the prototype came to life, "Do you wanna find out?"

Valarie was about to laugh at his comment, when something happened that made her heart fall. Loki was now stood behind Coulson as he faced...the other Loki standing next to the control pad. The real Loki behind Coulson impaled him through the heart and threw him against the wall, blood smearing behind him.

"NO!" cried Thor, slamming his hand on the cell glass. He looked hopeful to Loki as he turned towards the control pad.

Valarie, affected by Coulson's unattended sacrifice, burst from around the corner and fired as many bullets at Loki with a cry. The bullets bounced off Loki like they were bits of wood. Valarie ran out of ammo and she threw he gun to the floor. She reached down at her boot and pulled the hidden knife from her calf. She ran at Loki, raising the knife above her. All Thor could do was watch.

When Valarie finally reached Loki, she brought the knife down to his chest. Before the tip of the knife could even touch him, Loki took hold of her wrist and bent it backwards. Valarie cried out in pain and had no choice but to drop the knife from her hand. Her body was bending backwards and Loki towered over her. With her other arm, she tried to reach up and punch him in the face, but Loki only bent her wrist back even further. Valarie tried to free herself from his grip before Loki brought his hand up to her face with all the force of a God, slapping her across the cheek and backwards. The force flipped her over a few times until she slammed down on the floor, her face colliding with the metal floor. All was darkness after and Valarie slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Valarie?!" someone screamed. Valarie heard the high buzzing sound in her ear and a low voice next to her, screaming her name. "Valarie!" She felt strong hands circle around her head, tilting it to either side.

Another voice, "Slight cut to the forehead. No internal bleeding. Mild concussion, she should be fine."

The other voice returned to her. "Come on, Valarie. Wake up!" he cried. Valarie slowly opened her eyes and shut them quickly when she felt a throbbing pain in the side of her head. Sluggishly, she lifted her arms and placed a hand on her temple, wincing as she did so. "Valarie, look at me," said the voice again. Valarie recognised it as Fury. She opened her eyes and there he was leaning over her with his one eye wide open, gaping at her. He scanned her face for all the cuts. There were plenty. He was the one that was screaming her name.

"Ow," Valarie muttered as she tried to sit up. A swarm of arms came around her, helping her to her feet. "What happened?" she asked when her feet finally met the ground.

Fury's look said it all; it wasn't looking good. The attack they had must have left many casualties. Valarie looked around her and the glass cell had gone. Her eyes widened, "Thor?"

"He'll be okay," Fury replied, "Loki escaped, along with his scepter. A lot of Agents down too. But the good news is our engines are up and running again and we got Barton back," he said, with a small smile on his lips. Something was hurting him, something that deeply affected him.

Then Valarie remembered the last thing she saw before the lights went out. She saw Loki kill Agent Coulson, "Phil!" she almost screamed. When she turned around, there was no dead body behind her. Nor the gun Coulson was holding. All that was left was a deep red smear on the wall where Coulson had fallen.

"Coulson fought bravely to his last breath," said Fury with a mournful look. "He wasn't just an Agent." Valarie looked back at Fury, curious. "He was my friend." She felt sorry for him and devastated. She didn't know Coulson that well, but she knew he was a good Agent. And Fury trusted him a lot. For Fury to even call him a friend was something that only happened rarely. Valarie turned back to the smear of blood, she felt like she was going to be sick.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, turning back to Fury. "It seems like everything's gone downhill. What are we going to do?" she asked.

Fury stood there in his usual stance; his hands clasped behind his back. He put on is serious face and turned to walk out of the detention centre, "Meet me in the Bridge," he said, "I've got something I wanna say."

* * *

Valarie sat down at the round S.H.I.E.L.D table in the Bridge, with Agent Hill standing to one side with her head bowed down, honouring the memory of Coulson. Sitting at the table were Steve, wearing his Captain America suit, and Tony wearing his Black Sabbath t-shirt, though he was looking away from everyone else. Fury stood off to the other side, holding something in his hands Valarie couldn't quite make out. It was depressing in the room, not just from Coulson's death but from the fact that everyone felt like it was time to give up.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," Fury began, and he lifted up a few Captain America trading cards. Valarie had heard about those; Coulson was Steve's biggest fan. She saw Steve sigh as Fury continued, "Guess he never did get you to sign them." He threw the cards on the table, close to Steve. He lifted one up and it was covered with blood. Valarie felt awful. She could only imagine how Steve felt. Fury continued, "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I've got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." He began to move around the table as he spoke, "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract." This was news to Valarie and she frowned with the fact that she didn't know anything about it. And she was supposed to be a Security Level 5. Maybe there was a higher level she didn't know about.

"I never put all my chips on that number, because I was playing something even riskier," Fury continued. "There was an idea, Stark and Valarie know this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could." He stopped walking. "Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Suddenly, Tony stood up from his chair; it spun around from where he pushed himself to his feet. He stormed out of the Bridge, not wanting to hear any more of it. "Well, it's an old fashioned notion," said Fury.

* * *

Valarie and Steve found Tony in the detention centre, looking out in the hole in the floor where the cell was before. The blood stain on the wall was behind him. Valarie figured he couldn't look at it, not many of them could. She also wondered why no one had bothered to clean it up yet. She and Steve stood off to the side, just in the doorway. Steve had his arms folded and was leaning against the wall. At some point he had taken off the top half of his suit and was left in his blue undershirt. Valarie didn't know what to say that could make anyone feel better. But she knew they had to do something.

"Was he married?" asked Steve, almost making Valarie jump out of her skin. He looked at Tony, hoping he would say something in response.

Tony didn't look behind him when he spoke. His eyes were still fixed on the hole in the floor. "No, there was a uh...cellist, I think."

Steve nodded and looked to the floor, "I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man." He looked to Valarie as if he was talking to her as well. She gave him a small smile, to reassure him she was okay.

Tony turned around to face them both, "He was an idiot," he said. What annoyed Valarie about Tony was that he never really showed his emotions, but when he did, it was interesting to watch. He was the strong, silent type.

"Why for believing?" asked Steve, stepping out from the doorway.

"For taking on Loki alone."

Valarie sighed, "He was doing his job," she cried. "He knew the risks and he took them nonetheless."

Tony scoffed, "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..." his voice trailed off as he couldn't find the words.

Valarie shook her head, "Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

Tony walked away in disbelief, "Right," he scoffed, "How did that work for him?" He gestured to the blood stain on the wall and Valarie sucked in a breath. It was unbearable to look at, so horrific. Just another one of the horrors S.H.I.E.L.D has to offer. Tony still had his back to us and he was about to walk out the centre when Steve said, "Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

Tony turned sharply, his eyes glaring at Steve, "We are not soldiers!" he growled, "I am not marching to Fury's fife."

Steve shook his head, "Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to that behind us and get this done."

"I agree," chimed Valarie coming up beside Tony, "Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list-"

Tony was looking down at the blood on the wall as Valarie spoke but he soon interrupter her, "He made it personal," he said to her.

Valarie shook her head, "That's not the point."

"That _is _the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?" he asked. Valarie couldn't help but remember how Loki made her feel earlier when she was interrogating him; threatened, exposed. Vulnerable.

"To tear us apart," replied Steve.

Tony folded his harms and rested a finger on his chin, "He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" Valarie and Steve both nodded, "That's what he wants," he continued, "He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

Steve looked to Valarie and nodded, "Right, we caught his act at Stuttengard."

"Yeah, that was just a preview," replied Tony as he started to walk up the stairs, "this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades," he said, with each point he slapped his hands together, "He wants a monument built in the skies with his names plastered..." He suddenly stopped, his eyes growing wide. "Sonofabitch."

* * *

Once they figured out where Loki was heading and where the Tesseract was the didn't stop at anything. Steve was already suited up; all he needed to do was put on the top half of his Captain America suit. He told Tony and Valarie he would get Natasha. Tony said he had to work on the Iron Man suit before he could get it to fly. Valarie had time to rush down to her quarters to retrieve the bag she had brought with her. She strapped her guns to her thighs and her daggers and knives to her calves. She also managed to run down to the weapons room to grab extra ammo for her guns, a long blade she strapped to her hip, and two AK47's that she strapped around her back. Once she was finished, she made her way down to the aircraft port to take off in the Quinjet.

Agent Romanoff and Steve were already there, getting ready to set off. Valarie ran and just made into the Quinjet. Valarie was about to take her seat at the front when there was another occupant. Agent Barton was there, strapping himself in and placing a headset on his head. Valarie caught Natasha's eye and she nodded, signalling Clint was on their side again.

Valarie patted Clint on the shoulder, "Good to have you back, Clint," she said in his ear, to which he smiled at her. He was like an older brother to her which she liked. It was reassuring to have someone like Clint have your back.

Steve adjusted his shield on his back and took to the side of the Quinjet, holding onto the bars at the top. The hatch at the back closed and Natasha had started the engine, ready to set off. Out the window, Valarie saw Tony in his Iron Man suit come up beside the Quinjet. He saluted Valarie through the window before he started his suit. Valarie took hold of the bar on the other side of the Quinjet just as Natasha took off.

* * *

It only took them 30 minutes to get to New York City. Tony had gone ahead as his suit was apparently faster than the Quinjet. Valarie could understand why he would want to get their soon; Loki was using his tower to operate the Tesseract, in which the Tesseract would be able to use the height to create the portal. No one said much as they approached New York, but as soon as they saw the Chitauri army come through the portal, everyone gasped and cursed. In the distance, Valarie could see the lightning; the mighty Thor.

They were already flying through the streets of Manhattan. "Stark, we're heading North East," said Natasha in her earpiece.

They could all hear Tony through the Quinjet, "What, did you stop for drive-thru?" he aksed, annoyed. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

Natasha made a harsh turn around the corner, heading towards Park Avenue. Just up ahead, a small red figure whooshed past. Natasha took out the Quinjet's minigun and started firing just as the Chitauri were rushing past. A few of them exploded and others crashed into the building trying to get out of the way. Natasha took them up above the buildings.

"We need to find Loki and take him out once and for all!" cried Steve from the back. Out the front, they could see Stark tower in the distance and the blue light shooting up into the sky where the portal was...and thousands of Chitauri shooting through.

"Shit," Valarie muttered as the Chitauri army came towards them. "They're coming right at us!" she screamed.

The Quinjet was thrown around the place as Natasha tried to dodge the fire. Valarie and Steve had to take hold of the bars with both hands as they were flung around the back of the Quinjet. "Hold on!" yelled Clint.

Valarie's feet were off the ground by this point and she cried out as she tried to hold onto the bars. Her fingers were slipping, but just before she let go, the Quinjet levelled out and they were heading towards Stark tower. They circled around the tower and Valarie could see Thor and Loki fighting together on the balcony. Loki looked slightly different than before; he wore a lot more gold armour, his scepter was longer but still just as powerful, and he was wearing a golden helmet with large horns on top.

Thor was pushed aside by Loki and he noticed the Quinjet hovering next to him, aiming a minigun right at him. Before Natasha could fire, Loki raised his scepter and fired a blast of energy at one of the engines. Valarie was thrown to the side by the blast and Steve called out her name. "Valarie!"

She pulled herself upright, still trying to hold on to the bars above her. Steve and the others were being thrown around the jet; Natasha and Clint were trying to control the Quinjet's crash landing. It was spinning and they couldn't control the jet. Valarie's feet were in the air and she didn't have the strength to hold herself up. Her fingers were slipping.

"I can't hold on!" she cried, holding on by one hand. From beside her Steve was pulling himself towards her. He wrapped her arms around her and held her close to his chest, holding her up.

"Hold on to me!" he yelled over the roar of the wind. Valarie wrapped her arm around his muscular back. She couldn't help but blush being this close to a guy. Steve was, in all intensive purposes, hot.

When the Quinjet crashed to the ground, Steve and Valarie jolted to the side and were flung to the ground. Valarie landed on top of Steve. "I'm so sorry," she huffed, trying to push herself to her feet. She looked anywhere but at Steve.

"It's fine, Valarie. Are you okay?" he asked, looking her over. She nodded as Natasha and Clint unfastened their seatbelts and rushed out the back. Valarie and Steve joined them as they rushed out of the Quinjet. "We've got to get back up there!" Steve cried as he led the others down the street. The fight had only just begun.

* * *

Valarie was on the ground with Steve and Natasha. She had moved onto her AK47's but she was running out of ammo. Clint was up on top of a building somewhere, using his abilities to see better from a distance. Thor was using his lightning to strike the Chitauri and electrocute them to death. Hulk was around doing what he did best; smash. Tony had the perimeter and he was keeping the Chitauri Leviathan's busy whilst he and Hulk were destroying them. Down on the ground, Natasha had run out of ammo and was borrowing some of Valarie's. She had found it easier by stealing a Chitauri weapon and using it against them. Steve was using his shield to defend and attack.

More Chitauri were coming down the street. Valarie shot them with her AK47, but just as three of them went down, she officially ran out of ammo. "Shit!" she cried. She hid behind a busted car to reload but realised she didn't have any more left. She pulled herself to her feet and unsheathed her long blade. "Steve, I've got to get closer to them!" she cried, "I've ran out of ammo!"

Steve slammed his shield into a Chitauri scumbag when he turned to her, "I've got you covered!" he cried, "Get one of their weapons and use it!"

Valarie nodded and jumped over the car. A Chitauri soldier came at her with its gun and began to fire. She spun out of the way and threw one of her daggers into its face. She used its body as a shield to go down the street with. Blue gunk sprayed around her and Valarie figured it was the colour of their blood. She almost gagged.

When she got close enough to another Chitauri soldier, she sunk her blade into its chest and it fell to the floor. There was one coming up behind her. It didn't bother shooting her but it used its gun to hit her in the face. She fell backwards and landed on her ass. The Chitauri soldier was about to fire at her when it was suddenly struck by lightning, as were the others around her.

Thor dropped down just at the Chitauri dropped dead. He staggered slightly, holding onto a turned car for support. He approached Valarie and held his hand for her to take. She gladly took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked. Valarie nodded. She and Thor joined Steve who was surrounded by Chitauri soldiers. One shot him in the stomach and he went down to the ground.

"Steve!" cried Valarie, as she rushed towards him. Blood covered his suit and she panicked. She sliced her way through the Chitauri soldiers, trying to cover Steve's body with her own as he lay motionless on the ground.

"Captain, get up!" cried Thor as he smashed the head off a Chitauri soldier. He too was shot in the chest, but it didn't affect him as much as it did Steve. He wasn't moving at all.

"Steve, you have to get up!" Valarie yelled, kicking his arm with her foot lightly. He wasn't moving but he made a light groan. She heard Thor cry out behind her as more Chitauri soldiers surrounded him. He tried his best to smash his way past them but it was no use – there were too many of them. More members of the Chitauri gathered around them and most of them were in their flying chariots. All at once they shot their energies at Thor, making him weak. Valarie cried out, "Thor!"

Suddenly arms wrapped around her, pulling her away from Steve, who was being dragged by his feet by a Chitauri Soldier and put on top of a chariot that was about to take flight. Valarie was being dragged to another by two Chitauri soldiers. _This can't be the end_, she thought. _We are NOT finished yet_. She grabbed her dagger from her calf and slashed it around her. It hit the Chitauri soldier in the arm and it wailed. But she couldn't run away; she was already in midair.

* * *

Valarie knew where they were heading; towards the Stark tower. She was still being held by the Chitauri soldiers who were pressing down on her shoulders so she couldn't move. She found it freaky how they were standing like regular people. They were just another alien race from another dimension. But they were considerably creepier than the human race. There were two more flying chariots behind them carrying Thor and an unconscious Steve. Valarie wondered why Thor wasn't fighting, but what she didn't know was that Thor was threatened that if he tried to fight, they would hurt Valarie and kill Steve.

Valarie looked ahead; they were approaching the Stark tower. She could see Loki standing at the front, waiting for them. He was still wearing his helmet with the horns. As they flew closer, Valarie noticed the cuts and bruises on his face. He must've taken some beating.

The Chitauri dropped down on the balcony and they pushed Valarie off the chariot so hard that she slipped over. She crashed right in front of Loki's feet. "Be careful with her," Loki bellowed, giving the Chitauri a look of rage. The Chitauri made a noise that sounded like they were sorry. Loki clearly had power over this alien race.

Valarie pulled herself up to her knees and she couldn't help but look out over the balcony at the city below her; all the destruction made her insides boil with rage. This was a place she called home for the past 6 years. Beside her, Thor dropped to his knees, his hands chained behind his back. He looked to Valarie for a moment and she saw the defeat in his eyes. The Chitauri soldier threw Steve down by the other side of Valarie; he moaned from the pain and his face winced. But he didn't open his eyes at all.

Valarie looked up to Loki, "Please, he needs medical attention!" she cried.

Loki glowered down at her, a light smirk on his face. He clearly enjoyed having Valarie and his brother kneel before him. But he didn't say anything about giving Steve medical attention. Instead, he looked to his Chitauri soldiers. "Take them inside and guard them."

Valarie, Thor and Steve were hauled to their feet and pushed inside the building. When they entered they saw the others standing in the middle, being guarded by more Chitauri soldiers and some of the S.H.I.E.L.D enemies Loki turned; Natasha was stripped of her weapons and her forehead was bleeding; Tony had to take off his Iron Man suit which was destroyed in the corner; Dr. Banner was shirtless and his pants were hanging around his waist being held up by a belt Tony gave him; Clint was stripped of his bow and arrows which were sitting in the corner along with Natasha's weapons; Fury was also there, stripped of his weapons and his signature long black leather jacket he always wears. Valarie felt sad to see them all.

When Fury met her eyes, he started towards her in a rage, "Valarie!" he cried. One of Loki's henchmen stepped forward and swung his large gun on Fury's shoulder making him drop to his knees.

"No!" cried Valarie, as she tried to pull forward. She was stopped when arms wrapped around her. She looked down and saw the freaky grey skin of the Chitauri. She felt sick. "Let me go!" she screamed. Valarie thrashed her limbs around her and eventually elbowed the Chitauri soldier in the face. She wasn't able to get away; there were too many soldiers around her.

They took hold of her arms again and they stripped her of her weapons; her hand guns, knives, weapons belt, her long blade, the two AK47's she had strapped to her back, along with her holsters. They also took away her gloves that had spikes at the knuckles. Thor had his cape taken away from him and was forced to remove his outer armour. He even had to give up his hammer. Steve had his shield taken away and thrown to the pile of weapons. The Chitauri pushed them towards the middle with the others.

Loki entered the room. He wasn't wearing his helmet and his scepter was down to its normal length. He was wearing his usual leather and metal without the gold armour. Guess he felt like he didn't need as much anymore. He looked out at the Avengers with open arms and he smiled proudly. He glared at Tony, "Its one thing to say the words, Mr. Stark, but being true to them is another. There _is _a throne," he said, "And I'm on top."

Valarie could tell Tony had a smart comment to say back to him, but he kept it in. Probably because he was angry they crashed his Iron Man suit. Valarie could see his veins popping through his red skin; she had never seen him so angry.

Loki continued, "Remember this day, _Avengers_," he spat, "Remember the day you fell and a new leader rose to power. A King! And every King needs something to rule." He circled around them. "I'm feeling quite generous. I'll let you live, if you oblige to do one thing for me. One thing I have longed to witness." He stopped when he faced them all, but his eyes never left Valarie's. She had never been so scared in her life. Loki continued, "Recognise me as your King...and kneel."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter - let me know what you think in a review.**

**Disclaimer: The Avengers Script belongs to Joss Whedon so if you can identify the scenes that I used then they're from the script. I don't own the script, but I have added my own words in their as well. No quotes to be disclaimed either. **

**Seeing as we have officially entered the AU world where Loki has won the battle and is King of Earth, I guess there will be no more Avengers Script, so all the dialogue will be from myself unless I say otherwise - therefor I will do disclaimer at the end. **

**Please tell me what you think and want from the story - R&R.**

**Until next time!**

**-Caz :D **


	8. HELP WANTED!

**Hi Guys! I've been getting quite a few followers for this story and I don't want to disappoint - but I will admit, I'm struggling. This is my first serious M rated fanfic and I don't really know how to make the story catch on a bit more.**

**So I am looking for a partner to help me with this story. I'm looking for someone who is ready to write SMUT and VIOLENCE. If you're interested PM me and I'll give you the details regarding future events in the story. **

**Think of this as like an AUDITION for a role but its for WRITING instead. All I ask is, if you're interested, PM me a short scene with Valarie and Loki including some pieces of SMUT or VIOLENCE. I'll give some feedback if you want it. I'm hoping I'll get some replies for this, so here goes!**

**GET WRITING! DEADLINE IS AUGUST 31ST! **

**Until next time!**

**brokegirl97**

**PS. Yes I have changed my name for security reasons. And also I love the TV Series 2 Broke Girls!**


	9. Chapter 4: Real Power

**I understand it's been a long time since I updated, but I have had serious writers block with this story. But it's up and I hope you like the new installment. **

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

**Real Power **

The character, Bruce Lee once said that 'No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality'. But then defeat _is _accepted as a reality and the whole world is turned upside down. As Valarie stood there with the Avengers and Fury by her side, she turned to see what they would do. There was silence at first. She knew she would never kneel to Loki but the heat in the room was beginning to make her slightly drowsy. As she looked around her, Loki's henchmen were already kneeling to him and Loki seemed to like it. But he was still expecting the rest of them to kneel.

Valarie refused to be the first to kneel and hoped that none of the others would kneel too. But refused to believe that the first to kneel...was Nick. Staring at the floor, Fury slowly lowered the ground on one knee, resting his arm on his leg.

"Nick!" Valarie hissed and looked around frantically for someone else to realise that he was being ridiculous and hoping no one else was giving up.

But she watched Dr. Banner slowly go down to his knee. He gave Valarie an apologetic look but refused to look at her any longer. Valarie opened her mouth in shock and watched as the others went down to their knees; first Thor, his cheeks matching his red cape; then Steve, who fell heaviest as he was injured; Natasha was next, kneeling quickly as if she was going to change her mind; Tony and Clint were the last ones to kneel, except Valarie. Natasha muttered something to Clint only he could hear. Clint's face was full of hatred and anger, Valarie could understand why he didn't want to kneel to Loki as Loki basically used him as his slave. But he kneeled nonetheless and Valarie could see how much he hated it. What she hated more was the wide smug grin on Loki's face.

Valarie looked to Tony and found that he was already looking at her, as if sharing a secret message saying 'don't kneel'. She shook her head back to him and he gave a sly smile as he looked back to Loki.

"We're not as easily controlled," he said, folding his arms. Valarie felt cautious; she had no idea what Loki would do to them if they didn't kneel.

He didn't do anything to them directly but he gave a curt nod to the men behind them and Valarie felt a sudden pain in her shoulder and heard a grunt come from beside her; Tony. The men behind them slammed their guns in their shoulders sending them to the floor. Valarie tried to pull herself up to run, but she was hauled to her feet with Tony and she was being pushed out of the room.

"Put them somewhere safe. I will have to deal with them later," said Loki, glaring at Valarie with a sly smile that made her insides boil. _The bastard._

* * *

**Three Days Later**

Three days in one solid room, without food or water and with very little air, was getting to Valarie emotionally and physically. She hardly said anything and she was so tired. She was leaning against the wall; sweating and her lips were chapped. The only noise was from Tony, standing beside the door, beating at it with his fists. He was using his last breath and strength to cry out to the guards, "LET US OUT, YOU BASTARDS!"

Valarie sighed, "Tony, give up. Save your strength. Who knows how long we'll be in here." Her voice came out hoarse, croaky and worn out. She slowly turned her head towards Tony who stopped. He pressed his hands against the door frame and leaned into them, frustrated.

"I refuse to show defeat," he muttered, "We're going to get out of here." He turned and went towards and took in the site of her. He swore under his breath, "You need to drink something and get some food in you. When was the last time you ate?" he asked.

Valarie made a small shrug with her shoulders. It had only been two days, but Valarie didn't eat much when she was on the helicarrier, and she only had toast and coffee the morning S.H.I.E.L.D picked her up from her apartment. She had gone almost 5 days without water. Valarie was weak.

Tony continued to pound on the door, "Hey! Assholes! Valarie needs water or she's going to pass out!" he cried. He stopped banging on the door to try and hear anything. Nothing. He continued to pound his fists on the door. "C'mon! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

Just as he kicked the door, it opened and a huge burly man with an equally sized gun came through the door, with another guard behind him only he was a little smaller and had tattoos up his arms and around his neck. And behind that guy, was Loki. Valarie froze when she saw him and tried to move away but she was too tired and didn't have the strength to move.

Loki set his eyes on Valarie and didn't even bother to look at Tony. He held out his hands and, before Valarie's eyes, a glass of water appeared. Valarie couldn't speak. She didn't believe such magic could exist in this world, but then again, before she met Loki she thought Gods were just legends and myths. Loki began to walk towards her, holding the glass with two hands. Valarie's mouth began to water; she needed to drink something so badly.

Tony stepped forwards, his face full of rage, "Hey, get away from her!" He moved forward but was stopped when the two men grabbed hold of both of his arms and held him back.

Loki didn't stop to look at Tony; his eyes were truly fixed on Valarie's. She tried her hardest to move away but she couldn't. She whimpered as Loki got closer to her, and he realised he was frightening her. He held up one of his hands and stopped walking, to show that he wasn't going to harm her, only that he was going to offer her some water.

He continued to move and crouched beside her. Loki held the water out in front of Valarie and held the back of her head with his other hand. He tilted her head back and helped her drink the water. Valarie was so thirsty she almost drank the whole glass.

"Slow down," whispered Loki. Valarie stopped drinking for a second, gasping for breath. There was still some water left in the glass and Loki put it to one side. With his thumb he wiped away the water that had dribbled down the side of her mouth. Valarie could feel the rush of those tingles with his fingers so close to her lips.

She watched him as he wiped her mouth, trying to identify something in his movements or something in his eyes; anything that could give away an explanation as to why he was helping her. "Why are you helping me?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Loki finished wiping her chin with his thumb, and then finally looked at her. He gave her a smile that was true and different to his usual smirk. This one was innocent...pure. "Because it is wrong to treat a lady with such cruelty."

Valarie scoffed silently, "Hate to disappoint," she muttered, "But I am no lady."

Loki's mouth twitched at one of the corners before he got up and left the room. Valarie could still feel his fingers on her lips. She reached up and touched her mouth, slightly blushing. The guards let go of Tony and left after Loki did. Tony shrugged his shoulders back, annoyed at behind held back by some guards. Valarie knew he was parched, so when she offered him the rest of the water, he didn't hesitate to drink the rest.

* * *

**Two Day Later**

Natasha was huddled next to Clint with a blanket wrapped around them across an open fire underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, away from the City. Fury kept wrapping his arms around himself whilst trying to find a way to get his communications back up; he needed to speak to Agent Hill regarding a rescue mission for Tony...and Valarie. _Valarie_. She was like a daughter to him. She and Tony were still at Stark Tower locked inside somewhere. Valarie wasn't answering her communicator; they most likely took it from her. Nick couldn't even speak to The Council regarding a defence mechanism or even a plan of attack. Banner was sitting quietly in the corner wrapped in another blanket and a shirt he found on the floor; he had been quiet over the past two days. Steve was out around Stark Tower trying to see what the latest news was so they could plan a rescue mission; he should be back soon. And Thor? Well, Thor was sent back to Asgard by order of the King.

"Where's Steve," whined Natasha, "He's been gone for a while now." She rubbed her hands together, closer to the fire. Fury swore under his breath as he tried his communicator over and over again. He wasn't giving up hope.

Clint shuffled closer to her, "He'll be back soon." Natasha was extremely worried for Valarie; she was practically her sister. If anything happened to her, Natasha would tear Loki a new one.

Just as Fury was about curse out loud, Steve came rushing down the side of the Brooklyn Bridge. He was carrying his shield; he must have found it when he went down town. He jumped down and hurried underneath, taking his mask off. Underneath, he was red and covered with sweat and dirt.

"Okay," he began, "Security's tight around the Tower but I was able to interrogate someone from the back." No doubt the guy isn't breathing anymore. "I asked him where they're keeping Valarie and Stark and he said they were in the basement but the grounds heavily guarded. He was also generous enough to tell me that they're planning on moving them to a different facility."

"They're leaving Stark Tower?" asked Clint, "Where else could they go?"

Steve gave them a look of disbelief, "You're not going to believe it," he began, "Loki plans on moving to D.C. to take over The Whitehouse."

Natasha scoffed, "He's such a diva. What is he going to do? Build a palace the size of a fucking skyscraper?" Steve wasn't kidding. He didn't know what Loki's intentions were after he takes over The Whitehouse. Steve's face was serious and Natasha immediately stopped laughing. "Oh shit," she cursed.

"Will he be taking Valarie and Stark with him?" asked Fury, coming up behind Natasha and Clint, his communicator forgotten, "And why the _hell_ has he been keeping them?"

Steve sighed, "I don't know. But right now Loki's got them as his hostages and he's building an army using his scepter before he takes down The Whitehouse. So we still have some time to plan a rescue mission."

Dr. Banner stood up from his little corner, "What about Thor?" he asked. "Is there a way we can get a message sent to him? Maybe he can help."

"Thor's worlds away and none of us know much about Norse Gods or the way their systems work," replied Fury, "All we can hope with Thor is that he will return to Earth to aid us. But right now we need to focus on getting Valarie and Stark out Loki's grasp."

Steve stepped forward, taking a stand as the Captain. The others stood around him. "Before we do anything we'll need to get to S.H.I.E.L.D Base for some weapons. Natasha and I are light on our feet so we'll be the ones inside. Hawk-eye, once you've got a spare set of bow and arrows, I want you on the roof tops opposite the building, aim for Chitauri soldiers and anyone who could be on our back. I want eyes and ears on everything." Clint nodded. Steve turned to Fury, "Fury, keep trying on communications. Don't give up. You and Banner stay with a chopper a few blocks away from Stark Tower set to go so we can make a quick getaway." Fury nodded, but looked slightly uncomfortable receiving orders from Steve. He turned to Banner. "Banner, if push comes to shove, we're going to need The Hulk. Stay with Fury until I give the orders. Make sure you're able to get back on the chopper when we're ready to go." Banner nodded, and he knew what he meant – make sure you calm down in time to get on the chopper. Steve continued, "We're going to have less than a minute to get on the chopper ready to go. Once we've got new communicators from Base we'll be able to contact Fury when we'll need go. Any questions?"

The others turned to look at each other but didn't say anything, as if they were waiting for someone to say something. When it was certain everyone understood the plan, Steve continued, "Okay, without further ado, let's move out."

* * *

Clint knelt at the top of the building opposite Stark Tower. He was careful not to be seen. He kept his communicator on to the second secret channel used only by respected members of S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha and Steve were on the ground somewhere, towards the back entrance of Stark Tower. Bruce and Fury were waiting down the street with a chopper hiding on a low roof. Clint brought his finger up to his earpiece, speaking into it.

"Natasha, are you in position?" he asked into the earpiece. Clint could see better from a distance; he gets a great view of the scene in front of them. It's why they call him Hawk Eye...and because of the fact he was very skilled with a bow and arrow.

Natasha was out of breath when she replied, "Affirmative!"

Clint looked behind him towards the direction Fury and Banner were. "Director, the chopper ready to go when we need it."

Fury still felt uncomfortable receiving orders; he was usually the one who gave them. But new things were happening right now; but they hoped that, eventually, everything will go back to the way things were. "Affirmative," he replied, "Just say the word."

Clint took an arrow from his quiver and placed it on his bow, ready for anything to come out at him. "Captain; Natasha. You are clear to intercept."

* * *

Down on the ground, Natasha and Steve hid down the back street from Stark Tower, behind a car that had been topped over from the previous fight. Most of the fire from the before had gone out, but the streets were still chaos and practically in ruins. Steve wiped the sweat from his brow.

"You ready?" he asked Natasha, who was crouching by his side. She was eager to rescue Tony and Valarie. She nodded and waited for Steve to move first. "Make sure you've got a silencer capped on your gun?" Natasha looked down just to make sure. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves, so they've screwed silencers onto their guns.

Steve got into position, ready to run. Natasha crawled to the other end of the car and peered around the bonnet. "Clear," she whispered.

She and Steve moved off from either side of the car and rushed towards the building. The pressed their back to the wall, panting. Steve looked around the corner before turning back to Natasha. "Alright," he whispered, "Barton's up on the roof and so far he's not been detected. But there are at least seven men and ten Chitauri soldiers, all armed."

Natasha nodded, "Shouldn't be a problem."

"I've got the Chitauri," said Steve, "You take care of the men, got it?" he looked back to Natasha, but she wasn't there. He snapped his head look around him. "Natasha!" he screamed in a whisper. Suddenly, something hit him on the top off his head and fell to the floor. It was a small piece of rubble. Steve looked up and saw Natasha climbing the wall. "Natasha!" he whispered again and she looked down.

"Avoid confrontation at all costs. We need to find another entrance to the basement," she whispered back, "If we go around we'll be detected and we'll be no closer to rescuing Valarie and Stark!"

Steve pondered this for a moment and looked back around at the enemy. He swore under his breath. "Okay!" he whispered back. Natasha continued to climb as Steve put his fingers to his earpiece. "Barton, avoid confrontation unless necessary. Keep your eyes on us. Anything coming at us, you put an arrow between their eyes. Got it?"

"Copy that, Cap'."

Steve pushed himself up the tower. As he looked up he could no longer see Natasha anymore. All he could see was this small piece of red hair flowing in the wind. Steve climbed the tower as best as he could. He was still a little rough from getting shot at but, for crying out loud, he was Captain America. With his shield on his back, glistening in the morning light, he clambered up to where Natasha was.

They had reached the seventh floor when they found a broken window. Natasha punched as much of the broken glass out of the way so she could push herself through the window, head first. She landed on her back and rolled to a crouch. Immediately, she took her gun out and scanned the room for any Chitauri. "All clear, Cap'," she said, "Come on up."

Seconds later, Steve pushed himself through the window. He took his shield from his back and cautiously moved around the room. Natasha was in front of him, making her ways towards the door to the hall. She had been in Stark Tower a couple of times and she kind of new the layout. She pointed her gun towards the door as she carefully pulled the handle down. When she finally got a good look at the hall, she opened the door a bit more, her gun being the only thing that can protect her. Steve was her 6 o'clock, checking to make sure no one was behind them.

"Alright, Natasha," he said, "Lead the way."

They picked up the pace a bit more down corridors, trying to find the stairs down. Natasha stopped to a halt when she heard voices coming from in front of her. She heard steps as well, and they were getting louder. She looked back towards Steve and he heard it too. Natasha skimmed her back towards the wall, following the sounds of the conversation. They were coming from around the corner; any second now and they would notice them.

Both the men wore black and carried huge guns. They looked to be in their late 40's and were definitely foreign; you could tell by their accents. One of them was Russian and had a huge scar all the way from his eye to his cheekbone; it made him look even more frightening. He was tanned with dark hair and had tattoos growing up both his arms. The other one was French and was a tad smaller from the Russian. He was fair skinned with golden shaggy hair. His arms were bare, save for a few scars here and there. He had a white bandage wrapped around his right bicep and blood seeped through; a wound from the previous battle, Natasha supposed.

As the men came closer, Natasha took a deep breath. Her best bet was to take them out at the same time as quickly as possible. But if she revealed herself now then it wouldn't be the element of surprise. She would have to wait until they were passed her to strike.

She had totally forgotten Steve was behind her, but as the men passed her and she was ready to strike, Steve yelled, "Hey!" to get their attention. Natasha pressed her back closer to the wall as Steve through his shield at the men, hitting the Frenchman in the throat. The shield bounced of the first guy and slammed its edge into the Russian man's skull. Both men went down in a matter of seconds. Natasha stood there with her mouth gaped open.

"I had that," she complained, moving to check down the halls another time.

Steve adjusted the shield on his back, moving towards the guys, "You weren't making a move, I was waiting for you." He bent down to pick up the big Russian guy and threw him over his shoulder, "Help me put these in that closet back there. We can't have the other men seeing dead people around, they'll be on alert."

Natasha did as she was told, but cursed herself for not taking the shot. What had gotten into her? Normally she wouldn't hesitate and wait for something to happen. She was the one who ran towards the bullets and took the hit like the assassin she really is. She needed to clear her head around some things and get back into the game. She helped Steve retrieve the French guy and hauled him into the closet.

Steve took the lead this time, running them through the Tower trying to find the stairs down to the basement. They passed several closed doors and Steve was eager to enter every one of them, in the hope of finding Loki and tearing him a new one. But he knew that there was a bigger priority to focus on; Valarie and Stark.

When they found the stairs they heard several voices on their way up. Steve put his hands out behind him and felt Natasha's arm. He pushed her towards the wall as he reached behind him and took his shield from his back. As he was about to move out to throw his shield, Natasha swooped by him and shot the three men coming up the stairs; they went down like a sack of potatoes.

She looked back at Steve and gave him a smirk, "What? You didn't move." Steve didn't take it personally, but he had been worrying about Natasha and the way she was coping. Everything had literally gone to shitsville and they didn't know if and when they were going to get their Earth back.

"Hey!" came a voice from the side of them. A man dressed in black was running towards them with his gun raised. Without hesitation, Natasha raised her gun and shot the oncoming enemy.

Steve came around Natasha and started descending the stairs. Natasha followed in pursuit, her gun poised in front of her. More voices came from down the stairs. Steve gave Natasha a nod and she followed, more alert for other men.

They battled several men until they reached the basement, leaving a line of death and blood in their wake. That's what happens when you make enemies; all that's left is blood and death and nothing will change that. But it's all for a cause; saving their friends. Enemy on enemy...that is what the world had come to for them. All they had known, all they had worked for was spoiled by some alien. Some God. Thoughts were spinning in Steve's head as he and Natasha made their way to the door of the basement. It WAS heavily guarded, but the guards were on the floor, their skulls crushed by the weight of Steve's shield.

Natasha pounded her fist on the door, "Valarie!" she cried. She heard nothing, but there was movement. She heard deep coughing but it didn't sound feminine.

"It's Tony!" shouted a reply from the door. His voice sounded raspy and croaky.

Steve slammed his shield on the lock of the door, splitting the door handle and the lock shattered to the ground. He kicked the door open and it went flying to the other side of the room. When the light finally seeped through the room, they saw Tony sitting at the side, sweating and dehydrated. There were bruises all over his body and a cut on his forehead. His hair was matted to his skin, stuck to his face with sweat. His stubble had grown slightly and his beard was out of place. Natasha moved closer to him and saw that his eyes were drooping with bags underneath. She noticed the miniature arc reactor in his chest and noticed the light was flickering. She looked around the room; Valarie was nowhere to be seen.

"Stark, where's Valarie," she urged, her voice shaking slightly.

Tony took a second to find his voice and breath, "He took her," he panted. He had trouble moving let alone talking. "...they came...Loki." Tony had used his last breath. His head hit the floor as he passed out. His knuckles were bloody and bruised from banging on the door.

"Dammit," muttered Natasha, "He's going to slow us down," she said turning to Steve. He was stood next to the door on lookout. They had no idea where Valarie would be and they had no chance of even saving her with Tony passed out.

Steve huffed, "We're not leaving Valarie here alone with that bastard," he growled.

Natasha shook her head, "I hate the thought of it too but it's a dead end. We don't know where she is and Tony's just going to slow us down. We'll be caught by the time we make it to the chopper."

"So what are we supposed to do?" cried Steve, "No man gets left behind, not on my watch."

Natasha sighed and put her hand up to her earpiece, "Fury, Valarie's not in the basement and we've got an unconscious Stark. What's our next move?"

There was silence through the communicator, and Steve and Natasha shared a look. Finally Fury spoke, "Do you have a location on Valarie?"

"Negative," replied Steve, "I'm going after her."

"Stand your ground, Cap'," replied Fury, suddenly, "I hate to say it but you need to get the hell out of there."

Another voice came on the line, it was Barton, "Fury's right! Soldiers are running towards the entrance of the basement. You two need to get the _hell _out of there!"

Steve rushed towards Tony and hauled him over his shoulder. Natasha was the first one out with her gun pointing forward. They rushed lightly on their toes back the way they came. Natasha still had her silencer on, and whoever came their way she was going to eliminate them.

Fury spoke into the communicator again, "Get the 7th floor, you have two minutes. We'll be right outside!"

They followed the trail of dead bodies back to the 7th floor, like a trail of breadcrumbs, they were also adding to the floor as well. There was no balcony on the 7th floor and they didn't have a lot of time left. Natasha could hear the sound of the chopper coming beside her.

"Go through the window!" she cried, opening a door to a random room. Out the window she could see the chopper coming towards the floor.

"Fury, we're coming in hot!" cried Steve into his earpiece, "Crashing through the window!" Already the chopper was manoeuvring around the tower and hovering next to the window. The door opened and there was Barton. "GET BEHIND ME!" yelled Steve, taking his shield from his back. He readjusted Tony on his shoulder as Natasha stood behind him. "READY!" he cried, "NOW!"

They rushed towards the window, Steve using his shield to cover himself, Natasha and Tony from the shards. They finally made it on bored and they could finally breathe.

"What happened!" cried Fury over the noise. He was definitely talking about Valarie.

Natasha took a breather for a second before replying, "Tony said men came and took her. We think she could be with Loki."

"What would Loki want with Valarie?" asked Banner, who was sitting beside Fury, wearing a headset. It was an unusual look for Banner, he wasn't normally the pilot he was more of the scientist.

Steve shook his head, "I don't know," he replied, as they began to fly away. No one liked the distance they had to put between themselves and Valarie, but they didn't have a choice. "But I don't like it," Steve continued, "I don't like it one bit."

* * *

Valarie was taken the night before; the guards opened the door and immediately knocked her out with a blow to the head. She was awake but only barely. Tony had gotten up to fight and was instantly knocked down, receiving kicks to his stomach and punches in the face. He had screamed when they took her and Valarie could hear the faint pounding on the door before she rendered unconscious.

Now, Valarie woke up lying on a couch with a big pillow underneath her head and a cream blanket covering her. She was robbed of her S.H.I.E.L.D jacket and was left in her undershirt and pants. Her belt was gone as were the many holsters around her body. But absentmindedly, she reached for a gun, that would have been in a holster on her thigh, when she saw a figure staring out the window ahead of her.

She recognised him straight away and she recognised the room she was in. It was a bedroom and it looked like the master bedroom with a skyline view of New York – or what was left of it. There was a fire off to the side and a four poster bed opposite it. It looked untouched save for a missing pillow that Valarie only realised was the pillow she had been sleeping on. Valarie tried to move carefully off the sofa, but the man in front of her turned around. At that moment, Valarie thought two things - 1: She was going to die. And 2: She was going to die today.

Loki turned around, holding a glass of blood red wine in his hand. His other hand was behind his back. "I trust you slept well, darling," he began, moving towards her. "I didn't want to wake you; you looked peaceful. I enjoyed watching you."

Aside from the fact he called her 'darling', Valarie was a little uncomfortable with the fact that Loki was watching her sleep. "That's kind of creepy," she began, her voice coming out as a whisper. She was still a little uneasy from being locked away for a few days. She was dying to get some food in her. "And please don't call me darling."

Loki ignored the comment and set the glass of wine on the small coffee table in front of the couch Valarie was just at a moment ago. She was inching herself closer to the door, and Loki noticed. "I wouldn't bother if I were you. It's locked and my men are outside on guard."

Valarie cursed slightly and stopped dead in her tracks. Loki began to move towards her but he kept his distance. He knew how much she was really scared of him. "I'm sorry, I had to keep you down in that dreadful basement for days, but I didn't want to move you until your room was ready," he continued.

Valarie frowned; this was Tony's room, "My room, what are you talking about?"

Loki gave her his signature smirk. She hated the way it made her go weak in the knees. "I'm talking about the fact that you'll need better sleeping arrangements now that you're going to stay here for a few more weeks. Just until I get my army ready."

"No!" cried Valarie, "I'm not staying here, not with you. The others will come for me, they'll get me out, and they'll-"

Loki grinned and gave a menacing snigger, "Your friends have come and gone I'm afraid, my dear," he replied, and Valarie's face fell. "They came, they took Stark and left. They didn't come back for you."

Valarie felt like punching this guy in the face, he was just messing with her. They wouldn't do that; leave her here. They would come back for her, they would find a way. "What do you want from me?" she sobbed, her tears starting to fall down her cheek. Valarie hardly ever cried and she was ashamed of herself as she cried in front of Loki. It was like it was all ending for her. Right here, right now.

Loki moved towards her in long, slow strides. Valarie stepped backwards and she kept moving until her back hit the wall. Loki kept moving towards her and stopped when they were only centimetres apart. "I need you to help me with something," he whispered. Valarie could feel his hot breath on her face. He was a few inches taller than her; about 6ft 2".

"What?" she mumbled.

Loki looked down at her lips and then her body and then back up at her face. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, it was like he was undressing her with his eyes. "I want you to help me rule the world. I want you by my side."

Valarie widened her eyes, "What are you talking about?"

Loki grinned, "Well, every King needs a Queen."

* * *

**I hope you liked the new chapter and please forgive me for the late update. In all honesty I haven't been feeling inspirational recently. But I hope to update every 2-3 weeks due to the fact that I aim for 5000 words a chapter, I have another story on-going as well and I start my new college course on Monday :) Yeeey!**

**Until next time!**

**Brokegirl97 - PS. I changed my user name for security reasons. **


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